Today we’d like to introduce you to Eliza Ferrel.
Eliza, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
The inspiration for Joy Street Kids came to me one day while on the hunt for a baby gift. I wanted something thoughtful and personal. Something unique and special. Something that captured the essence of home in a sweet and understated way.
After coming up empty-handed, I took matters into my own hands – sketching the elements and icons and eventually turning them into a micro print pattern and formed my vision for Joy Street Kids. At the time I was working full time as a Global Merchandising Manager at New Balance with experience from a few other larger retailers. I was able to use my skill set and learnings from my career to help build and guide my plan for Joy Street Kids. I have since left my corporate career and am pursuing Joy Street full time with the help of friend and mom, Caroline Walsh.
As a new mom, I have become further obsessed with the fit and the high-quality, 100% Pima Cotton fabric that Joy Street Kids has come to be known for. We hope you feel the love we pour into each and every product we produce!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There are bumps every day! Currently, it is just Caroline and me running plus the help of a fabulous Marketing Intern, Kate Werle. We are currently working through building a strong foundation for the business, cleaning up mistakes, and thinking through more strategic ways to grow our business. It wouldn’t be a day at the office without a small fire drill and Caroline and I looking at each other asking how we solve the newest problem! It is so important to be able to process the problem and then jump to how to solve it and not dwell on the challenge. I often find myself pulling from Sesame Street when I face a challenge…” what do you do when you face a problem? I wonder, what if? let’s try!” Luckily Caroline and I both love problem-solving and enjoy learning from our mistakes.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
The funny thing about Joy Street that I think sometimes gets overlooked is although I am the artist drawing the prints,
I spent my career as a Merchant analyzing apparel and footwear businesses and strategically planning future assortments and sales plans. I was always in the numbers and loved it, but at the time I needed a creative outlet and have always loved painting and drawing which led me to Joy Street Kids. Today I draw all the prints for Joy Street which is important to me because our prints are more than just pretty, they are smart with cleverly hidden riddles and historic nods to the location or theme being represented that make the wearer laugh, think, and learn. I do not believe we would be able to achieve the storytelling and learning element of our prints if we just handed them off to a designer or another artist because the creative process is so specific. I have been able to use my Merchandising background to help with buys and Go to Market processes and Caroline complements with a strong consulting background that helps us zoom out and look at the big picture determining how we need to strategically shift our approach be it our DTC experience, sizing or growth strategy to name a few.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
It was absolutely terrifying to decide to leave my corporate job! I had ticked all the boxes and was following my corporate career path and very comfortable. About a year into launching Joy Street, while still working my corporate job, the business was taking off and I realized I needed to make a choice to either pursue and dedicate my time to JSK or keep it as a hobby and be happy with that. I even serendipitously was offered a large promotion/dream job at another company, just to make the decision even harder! Ultimately, I knew that the opportunity to work for myself and try to pursue my own business was rare and that corporate jobs would come and go, so I took the risk and left my salary, health insurance, and shopping addiction and rolled up my sleeves and decided to pursue Joy Street full time. I often feel selfish knowing that a start-up business requires more of me, taking away from my husband and son, and also is financially risky no longer contributing financially to the family and rather reinvesting into the company, but I remind myself that I am setting an example for my son that you can pursue your dreams and take calculated risk (just always have a back-up plan)!
Pricing:
- Our products run from $18-112
- we like to be considered an approachable luxury
Contact Info:
- Email: eliza@joystreetkids.com
- Website: https://joystreetkids.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joystreetkids/
Image Credits
https://kristenswainphotography.com/
https://www.lcbstyle.com/
