If You're Reading This... You're In For A Ride

Photo Cred: @dxpert_image

This is Souphak, Co-Founder of Jay Victoria. If you are reading this, you are in for one heck of a ride.

Each month, we will continue to share with you the joy, struggles, faith, and courage it has taken and will take leading this new path of starting Jay Victoria, a clothing business based in Minneapolis, MN.

Below I will discuss that I am not an expert in running this business, our mission to transform lives, the experience of our car dying in the middle of the festival, and extending our crowdfunding launch date.

We're No Expert In Building A Business

We're no expert at building a business nor will we say we are qualified to build a fashion line.

It started with my wife crying on our bed when she didn't want to leave the house. It started, daily, when she wore clothes that wasn't made for her. It was when she couldn't quite express herself in the way she identifies herself with. It was those nice wing tip shoes but only in men's sizing. It was steering over to the men's section and quickly giving up hope because they don't fit those hips. 

It was then when I told her we are going to start a clothing line. She didn't believe me, but here we are today.

• We completed a button-up shirt prototype in a women's size 18 and perfecting our plus-size cuts.
• We switched to a third clothing manufacturer because of quality control and communication issues.
• We honed down on our values and created filters for who we want to do business with.
• We started from nothing, just an idea, pain, drive, and passion.

What I do know is..

• The amount of hard work we have done on building ourselves as a human.
• Fostering relationships with every human, especially the closest ones around us.
• Finding peace to allow for creativity, big dreams, and courage to execute those dreams.
• Persistence.. persistence.. persistence...

I firmly believe one can do anything they put their mind to, and if roadblocks come their way, quickly make a pivot and find another way. Want to talk? Email me at souphak@jayvictoria.com.

Out to Transform Lives

At Jay Victoria, we believe in fostering strong and healthy relationships and values in our home and with our family and friends. We believe in a culture of community, acceptance, and compassion. When the world feels like it's being divided, we want to unite the people in our community and openly build connections and shine a light on common issues like depression, anxiety, grief, inequality, shame, and much more.

Then this happened..

• The 'Tree of Life' shirt came to existence. Designed by Megan Miller from Apple Valley, MN and inspired by Tyler Perry's tree analogy. Pre-order available click here.

Our pieces are inspired by real-life experiences and are designed to build conversations and connections. Want to share your story or journey? Contact us here.

Please visit us in our upcoming events or reach out to me anytime at souphak@jayvictoria.com.

Car Died in the Middle of Marketfest Festival

Life told us to slow down this week. Our car died in the middle of the festival as hundreds of people walked in! Hats off to the AT&T vendor who saved us with his jumper cable and the BBQ truck vendor who jumped our car! $150 new battery later...

Also, thank you for Sharon Nagler and Sara Szathmary for taking the time to help us promote Jay Victoria! 

Crowdfunding Date Extended

Wow! We hit $3,360 from our crowdfunding campaign on iFundwomen today! This is record breaking! Thank you so much to all of you. Jamie and I couldn't be more thrilled!

For those of you who haven't had the chance to fund us, there's still time!

We have now extended the end date to August 15, 2019.

Thank You To Lisa Beecroft 

Thank you to Lisa Beecroft for inviting us to Marketfest! Lisa is a marketing professional, event director, and entrepreneur. She directed and ran Marketfest Festival. This year is it's 29th year with over 160 local businesses and 4,000 – 5,000 attendees!

Please visit https://beecroftmarketing.com/ if you'd like to learn more about Lisa and her services!