J'adore PARIS again and again and again

After eight years of owning this small shop, I still can’t believe that I get to go to Paris for work. And not only that, but I get to meet incredible designers and see gorgeous clothing. Dreams.

For a long time in my 20’s, I had this nagging uncertainty that I would never be able to stand on my own two feet. Opening Jake and Jones felt like such a risk. So many people told me retail was a dying business, and that it couldn’t make money anymore.

But I had this sort of chip on my shoulder. I needed to prove that it could work. And sometimes when I am romping around the streets in Paris or New York, or helping a customer in the shop, I feel this huge sense of pride and accomplishment because here we are 8 years later. Retail is so hard and hard work feels freaking good. So, to all the nay sayers…lfg.

It might be obvious to you, but being able to come to these cities and do this as part of the business still blows my mind. Season after season I show up in Paris or New York, and yes—sometimes the travel and work are exhausting. But underneath that is this deep sense of awe that what we are doing keeps working.

How cool it is to get to do this. These cities, these designers, the energy of it all—it keeps you going.

This trip to Paris was so much about trusting my gut—that voice that so easily tells you yes or no. It’s funny how obvious that voice can be, isn’t it? Wear this, not that. This color, not that. This relationship, not that. Divorce, stay. This voice is so inherent and has been there as long as we have, but sometimes we can’t hear it. Or worse—we doubt it.

That voice to me is everything. It guides 90% of my decisions. And when I ignore it, I usually end up somewhere weird, not feeling like myself. In fashion, that feeling can translate into clothes feeling flat, uninspiring….off. Keeping it simple and playful feels more important than ever as we keep building this business.

I brought Dani along with me. She is our customer service and e-commerce manager, my eating partner, and the shop’s grounding force. In true small business fashion, Dani wears all the hats. She is often the person greeting you in the shop, the person counting inventory or restocking toilet paper—she is also my main collaborator in buying.

She is the person I turn to when making decisions about what comes in the shop and what doesn’t. She has great taste and a lovely, humble excitement about fashion. She understands it because she doesn’t judge it; instead she embraces it. This is what makes her so great. And we laugh—a lot. About everything. I love funny.

We are both moms and leaving our kids is never easy. But five days hitting the streets of Paris, drinking spritzes and Carette hot chocolates, and seeing these collections feeds us in a way that ultimately makes us better moms and people. It just does.

I come home energized—able to give my kids the parts of myself I love the most. I come home wanting to bring back the parts of Paris I love, and to encourage them to see the world and find work they love and can commit to.

The reward is beyond.