In the Beginning…
Sookie Slafford began an amazing journey that started with the simple desire to have her own land on Second Life where she could raise her Ozimal bunnies and maybe even make some related products to sell. On March 12, 2010 Jolly Farm Bunnies & Stuff was born.
In late February 2010, I embarked on an amazing journey. I found the wonderful world of Ozimals and I can honestly say that it changed my life – both my Second as well as my First. I’ll never forget the first moment I saw my bunnies as they sprung from their little nests “I love you Sookie Slafford!” and the feeling was mutual. I found something in these little, virtual pets that stroke my muse in such a way. The desire to own land and to establish a store was so strong that I couldn’t fight the urge.
On March 12, 2010 Jolly Farm Bunnies & Stuff was born. It consisted of a small, shabby barn where I kept a few stalls of happy, humping bunnies. I sold nests to friends and anyone I could convince that “bunnies were cool”. I made friends with those in the already established breedables community and soon found a few people interested in renting space with me so they could sell their nests. It was good for me financially since I was on a tight budget and already working at two different clubs as a hostess just to be able to afford my land and upload fees. And it was good exposure for the store.
The store grew… and oh how it grew. I began making products in what was then a very lacking breedable product market. The simple introduction of the original bunny pen was revolutionary and from it sprung dozens of similar copies. I continued making products ranging from display pillows to Bunny Shoes – each product growing more in popularity than the last. Before I knew it, the business had quite the following.
In June 2010, I received invitation to take up shop at the Ozimals sim’s Strawberry Market, which I graciously accepted! At that point, there were a total of 7 Jolly Farm locations in world ranging from stalls at various breedable markets to full-scale flagship stores.
The business peaked and Jolly Farm was at the height of its potential. I established this website, www.JollyFarmOnline.info as a way to keep the Ozimals community informed of any related news, updates to the Ozimal bunnies, new products of my own, sales and more. It became the #2 source for Ozimal Bunny information – second only to the official Ozimals website.
Over the next several months, the brand would continue to flourish as I rolled out a few new products every month. The main locations grew in size – eventually spanning about a quarter sim.
The Decline
The business grew until it plateaued – mostly due to my own boredom from the restrictions I’d placed on myself. All I ever made was stuff relating bunnies and it just got old for me. I started running out of ideas and it stopped being fun for me. I struggled to come up with fresh ideas and suffered artistic block.
Around that time, bunnies just lost their sparkle for me. I’d recorded and sold thousands of bunnies by that time. I knew everything about them and was always up to date on the latest information. It was honestly rather exhausting. I was offering customer service not just for my own products, but even for bunnies although I wasn’t a member of Ozimals staff. I felt obligated to offer help for the bunnies to those I’d sold them to.
My Second Life was changing to reflect my First and I began spending less time working on my business and more time socializing. Jolly Farm continued to sustain itself, but I found myself less and less interested in being involved with it. The project had burnt me out. It was then that I considered the possibility of incorporating another virtual pet in hopes of it sparking some life into it.
In February 2011, I decided to start a whole new brand with my good friend and business partner Alia Whitfield. We formed Kitty Cattery – a business dedicated to all things cat related, but focused around the breedable known as KittyCatS. The original plan was to use some of Jolly Farm’s accumulated land to place the business next door and bounce the traffic off one another. Kitty Cattery spiraled out of control and grew into a much larger project than anticipated over night and I made the painful decision to sacrifice Jolly Farm for the sake of Kitty Cattery’s growth.
On February 27, 2011 Jolly Farm’s main store and most secondary locations were closed – leaving my stall at Ozimal’s Strawberry Market as the only in world presence. Kitty Cattery grew bigger and faster than I could have ever dreamed – even for Jolly Farm. We grew so big and so fast that we lost the inspiration almost as quickly as it came.
