"Together Talks" feature # 34: Jiggy Puzzles presented by KLS, freight company
Some Background on Jiggy Puzzles
Today's edition of "Together Talks" campaign, KLS had the opportunity to interview Jiggy Puzzles and founder, Kaylin Marcotte. A Woman-Owned company that focuses on sustainability, mental health, community, and women. The message direct from their website, courtesy of Kaylin--
5 years ago, I was working around the clock at an early startup and fell in love with jigsaw puzzles as my nightly meditation. I was doing one every week and the stress relief was great, but the designs were outdated and uninspired. I started dreaming up a puzzle that would be beautiful for both the doing and the decorating, that would look good before, during and after completion. I knew I wanted to support and highlight the work of amazing female artists and after a year of curating the art and reimagining and designing the packaging, JIGGY was born.
I hope JIGGY inspires you to unplug and experience art in a whole new way, in pieces.
xx Kaylin
Here is the motto of the company:
Unknown start
The beginning seed idea started in 2014. Kaylin was working for a start-up media company after leaving corporate America. It was her first experience with the "start-up" grind, which she would take with her in due time. She told us as a kid she did puzzles, and during her grueling schedule she was looking for a way to calm her mind and get away from screens she was looking at all day. She would come home after a long stressful day and try to unwind. She gave puzzles another crack, this time as an adult. Lucky for her she had one lying around and she was amazed and the impact it had on her. It felt meditative and challenging enough that he was present, but also able to still her mind and body and relax with her thoughts. Being able to be in control rather than having her thoughts control her was a game changer.
Puzzles became a nightly ritual for Kaylin.
Over time this led her to question if there was something more here. Could I bring a unique spin, what is my ideal puzzle, how do I form a connection with the puzzle rather than putting it away after completion?
These questions were the foundation that would lead Kaylin to create her company.
Partner with KLS
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Our nationwide coverage provides companies a reliable, consistent, and dependable logistics partner to handle your trucking needs.
For more information on how we can help call our office today 708-980-0920 or reach us via our email quote request here!
Innovation and Purpose
Kaylin ventured out on her journey. The goal was to continue to provide an activity that would bring solitude, but also with her own spin. Her spin would include two differentiators to innovate the space.
1 - Create puzzles that you could display, when finished they would be home décor pieces.
To this day Jiggy is the first and only product that provides the product glue to keep the puzzle in place. The company also provides framing. Working towards a goal that is so beautiful that the desire to display the final product is a sense of pride and accomplishment. Kaylin knew the spin, the next hurdle was how would she find compelling enough ideas that consumers would want to display a puzzle?
2 - Partnering with Female Artists
This is what resonated with Kaylin. Finding, partnering, showcasing, and including fellow women. Her company was going to endorse and promote other women. She started by attending art fairs and shows, connecting with female illustrators and artists on Instagram and other platforms. Current day she said it is about a 50/50 split with artists reaching out to Jiggy and Jiggy reaching out to artists.
Shark Tank
Kaylin told us that the product was mainly ecommerce for a while. They then expanded on to Amazon for select designs. They also have had seasonal shelf space at Macy's, Barnes and Noble, and last year their first year at Nordstroms. One of the biggest moments in terms of brand awareness and growth was when Kaylin was featured on an episode of Shark Tank in 2022!
The company started with pieces for adults, but due to high demand they introduced a kids version, "Jiggy Jr.", which are 100 piece kid puzzles!
Another aspect that makes Jiggy Puzzles unique and shows their values is their model is based on being partners with the artists.
Commitment
This is arguably the most important component to Kaylin. Beaming with pride throughout our chat, one thing she was eager to tell us how much she enjoyed was when she cuts checks to the artists. That is right...It is a profit-sharing model between Jiggy Puzzles and each and every female artist. Per Kaylin, "Every quarter we pay the artists, most are small businesses themselves. Every single time we get to distribute profit to them it is a really fulfilling feeling. Being able to create a product that brings people joy while also supporting other women is beautiful. I'm very grateful."
Jiggy Puzzles was the brainchild of a fun and playful name. Kaylin told us she was on a walk with a friend spitballing names when it came out and she instantly was drawn to it. Keeping the perspective of having fun is a great goal of the product. Kaylin told us this spills over into the team at Jiggy as well. While all work remote, there is an intense level of responsibility, compassion, and work ethic. All believe in the message of the company, but also don't take it too serious. They enjoy learning a lot, working hard, but overall enjoying it.
The Future and the Favorite
The company is very involved with not only the female artistic community but also giving back. They work month long collaborations with various organizations. For example in October, part of the proceeds went to Breast Cancer research. Similarly, May the same result for Mental Health. Recently one of the custom puzzles was part of the nonprofit, Michael J Fox Foundation, as the artists was living with Parkinson's Disease, and proceeds went to research. Kaylin told us they recently also did a Girl Scouts collaboration, which they had an open application depicting the values of the Girl Scouts until a winning piece was chosen.
2023, Jiggy Puzzles is poised for more growth. Kaylin told us they have created Jiggy Frames that pair with the artwork to further enhance the design of the finished product. The company has two new collections planned for spring/summer with six new curated designs. Also there is a winter/holiday collection in the works. The company also recently launched "Jiggy Puzzle Club" which is a membership subscription that sends a different 500 piece puzzle every month. Included is a studio tour, behind the scenes of the artist behind the artwork.
We asked Kaylin to explain to us what makes Jiggy Puzzles a worthwhile investment and she broke it down to the following:
Modernizing and reinventing the classic puzzle
Support emerging artists
New form of self-care
Goes from activity to affordable wall art all in one
Complete solo or connect with people, sharing the activity
Ultimately have a new piece of wall art you’ve created
That list encapsulated the favorite parts of the job Kaylin shared with us, "Launching new sizes and design, finding new artists, picking the next piece to produce. Being so closely tied with the community, fans, consumers, and artists. All of us are intertwined for the same goal. To see the impact it is having and knowing this is only the start, it gives me hope."
6 new designs were launched to begin the month of May, check them out here!
Also purchase from their website and use the coupon code "WELCOME10"for a 10% discount!
Interested in being featured with "Together Talks"?
KLS is booking our upcoming schedule now!
Contact us as we would love to learn your story and share it amongst our audience.
Weekly we provide 2 companies our platform to expand their reach courtesy of our campaign. Let's collaborate!!!
In Closing
KLS wants to thank Kaylin for sharing the story of Jiggy Puzzles for today's "Together Talks" feature. Keep up to date with Jiggy by following their blog on their website, check it out here. Follow along for the Jiggy journey with their social handles below!
Klimson Logistics Solutions - Best Customer Service 3PL for LTL, FTL, Reefer, Drayage
*Klimson Logistics Solutions is an Industry Leading Customer Service 3PL. Our focus and commitment to our clients has us striving to be the BEST Customer Service 3PL for LTL, FTL, Reefer, and Drayage in the country. KLS thanks you for viewing our marketing campaign "Together Talks" if you have any interest in being featured or questions regarding your freight operations please contact us today!
Why KLS?
Our precise and reliable effort.
We handle every shipment with the exact same process. It does not matter if you move one shipment a year or ten per day, you will receive the same level of customer service from us. When we started this company, we had one goal in mind, treat every shipment like it was our own. With our vast knowledge of the industry, we understood what a customer would want from a communication standpoint. We applied that process to be the standard here at KLS. Our reliability and being able to depend on our consistency is why we have such long-standing relationships with our clients.
Our Process?
Every shipment in our industry starts with a quote. We are firm believers that time is money, thus we strive to have quotes back in a 5-10 minute reply time for LTL and FTL, any FCL quotes are at the mercy of the carriers getting back to us. For LTL we have the flexibility to quote both off of NMFC and also Density depending on the carrier. Utilizing our services, you’re allowing us to use our expertise to class your freight accordingly to ensure we are providing the best rate we possibly can.
Once a quote has been submitted and a client chooses to proceed with KLS handling the arrangement of the shipment our full process begins. We create the BOL that will be used for the shipment. If it is a new location for our system, we will obtain all the important/special details (reference numbers, contact details, shipping hours, closed for lunch, dock/doors, etc.). We meticulously build every detail into our software for all future shipments involving that location. After we have both locations built and necessary reference numbers have been applied we will tender the shipment to the carrier. We use this method because it provides us a real time pickup number from the carrier to obtain updates prior to pickup. Our staff will either email the BOL directly to you or to the shipper (at your request) the minute after the tender has been accepted by the carrier. LTL carriers require a 2 hour window prior to close time in order to schedule it for a same-day pickup attempt.
The following morning you’ll receive an email from us. It will either provide the reason the pickup was missed (driver’s trailer filled up, driver missed the close time, truck broke down, shipper said no freight, etc.) or if the pickup was successful you will receive the PRO (tracking) number from us, along with the eta for delivery. Our staff will track it throughout the duration of transit and advise if anything happens that will alter the estimated delivery date. The day the shipment delivers we will email you with confirmation and the POD (Proof of Delivery), should you require it.
Your shipment has been quoted, scheduled, picked up, and delivered. The next step is waiting for the carrier to invoice us and make sure the rate matches up. If it does, we close out the invoice from the carrier in our system and automatically your invoice is created and sent to the requested party at your company. In the event the carrier has an additional charge on their invoice “Variance”, we will never send you an invoice with an additional charge without first identifying you of the charge.
Let us repeat, NEVER WILL WE JUST BILL OUT AN EXTRA CHARGE WITHOUT YOU BEING NOTIFIED.
You are our customer, we represent you. Should the carrier provide an extra charge on an invoice, “Lift gate, additional weight, reclass, detention, etc.) We notify you of the charge via email first. Second, within that email we identify what is required should you choose to dispute the charge. Again our goal is to honor your request, if you want to dispute, we will dispute. During a dispute we will provide you updates every step along the way. Once a dispute is closed out, whether it is approved or rejected, then we will invoice you as the invoice has been resolved.
For reference, our company only had 6.2% of all shipments go to dispute in 2022 and we successfully won 91% of those disputes on behalf of our customers.
This is our process for every single shipment you move with us. We don’t cut corners, we don’t hide from difficult situations. We believe in being available, honest, and transparent. We don’t ever want to tell you that a shipment is lost, damaged, misrouted, but it is our duty to notify you the second we find out something has gone wrong. We hate to present bad news, but it is part of the job. What you can guarantee is that we will work a shipment all the way through and turn over every stone until we get a resolution for our clients.
Services offered?
Our core business is LTL and FTL. Within these options we have options for both dry and refrigerated/frozen. We also offer FCL/Drayage options. Our company as a 3PL has nationwide options and services clients across the US.
Let’s breakdown our services more in-depth
LTL:
Standard and Guaranteed
CFS (Imports & Exports)
Tradeshows
Hazmat
Anything that is on a pallet can be moved LTL. Typically LTL is up to 10 pallets, but the sweet spot for a carrier is 6-8 pallets at most for an individual shipment. LTL quotes are good between 5-30 days depending on the carrier. LTL can be quoted either via NMFC or density to determine the class (we do this for you).
Volume:
Anything over 10-12’ of space in the truck is the technical rule for a volume shipment. When we run a quote for you we will determine if it qualifies for volume and provide you a rate if available. Volume moves allow you to get a reduced rate for larger shipments. The caveat to volume shipments it the quotes are only valid for 3-7 days and they move on capacity between terminals. If a terminal is backed up they will move their LTL freight first before the volume freight, which can lead to longer transit times for volume moves.
FTL/Dedicated/Expedited: 53’ Dry and Reefer 26’ Box trucks with lift gate Sprinter Van The main difference for FTL vs LTL is space and transit time. For standard pallets you can fit either 26 or 30 pallets in a 53’ dry van. The other main difference is transit time, for FTL each day counts in the transit time, whereas LTL does not count the day of pickup, weekends, or holidays in their transit time.
Reefer/Frozen:
LTL and FTL
We specialize working in the CPG space with food manufacturers. We regularly deliver to
the following locations:
Kehe
UNFI
Core Mark
DPI
Wegmans
Cugini
H.T. Hackney
Netrition
HEB
ALDI
Chambers and Owens
EBY Brown
Nassau Candy
Harris Teeter
Wakefern
NU INC
Long Distribution
What makes KLS different?
There are thousands for freight brokers and 3PL in our industry. Barrier to entry is rather easy and agents or owners will often hire sales people without any intention of properly training them. It results in high turnover for many freight companies and a forgettable experience for the client. We choose to operate differently through our consistency. We truly care about doing right by our clients and prospects too. While we would love to help provide our services to every company we speak with, that just isn’t realistic. We won’t always be the right fit for every company that moves freight and that is ok. Our authenticity as a shipping company sets us apart from the competition and that is backed up by our testimonials. We also run a marketing campaign bi-weekly called “Together Talks”. We interview, highlight, and promote two businesses every week. Our goal is to grow our network, make new connections, and learn something new with each collaboration. Check it out on our website and if you’re interested in being featured reach out.
Our company also runs a year long charity promotion. Book your first shipment through KLS and we donate to the charity of your choice in your name. Our way of thanking you for giving us an opportunity to show you the KLS way and what makes us one of a kind. This entire package is what we offer to every prospect and every client. Our goal is to help provide answers that customers may have when it comes to shipping. We want to always be available as a resource and will always offer a lending hand whenever we can.