EPISODE #1008
Jennifer Ann Johnson
Revolutionizing the Antiquated:
Turning Consignment into a $50m e-Commerce Resale Empire
1008 Jennifer Ann Johnson: Revolutionizing the Antiquated
Overcoming Betrayal, Resilience and Leveraging ‘Grit and Grace’, and the Power of Your Voice
There is always something unexpected that happens in business. We can try to see around corners, but all too soon every entrepreneur comes to learn its prudent to expect the unexpected.
Jennifer Ann Johnson opened True Fashionistas 16 years ago with 1,800 square feet and $70,000. Within two months her business partner wanted out. Jennifer and her husband cashed out a 401(k) to buy out the partner, who then opened the same business in the same plaza and took the employees with her. “It lit a fire under my butt,” Jennifer says. “If it were not for that happening, we would not be where we’re at today.”
Now True Fashionistas is the largest lifestyle resale store in Florida, a $50 million-plus business that carries furniture, home decor, clothing and accessories, with a growing online e-commerce side that puts every item online, and lets anyone in the country ship their pieces in for free. She just opened a second location 45 minutes from the flagship and plans to add a store or two every year.
Jennifer says she owes her success to growing up on a small dairy farm in Minnesota. Her family had no money, so her father fixed the tractor with parts from the junkyard, her mother patched the jeans, and nobody got to skip milking the cows. “You’re responsible for something living and you can’t make excuses.” She went on to become Miss Minnesota, then a model and actress before opening up a bridal shop and wedding planning business. She brought that dairy farm work ethic to a consignment industry that, 16 years ago, meant dingy, stinky stores nobody wanted to shop in. She built hers light, bright and organized, and did the thing other resale owners thought was crazy: she put everything on the website, selling e-commerce before e-commerce was a thing in her industry. The advice that drove it, from someone years ago: if you want to make serious money, look at industries that are antiquated and modernize them.
Now she also coaches entrepreneurs on speaking through her seven-week Power of Your Voice program, hosts The Confident Entrepreneur podcast, and is the author of the Amazon bestseller Grace & Grit: Becoming a Confident Entrepreneur.
We talk about why farm kids make resilient entrepreneurs and good hires, why resilience is the critical skill because you will be told no far more often than yes, and how True Fashionistas actually works, from the free shipping label to the check or store credit when your pieces sell. We get into the Netflix documentary on fashion waste and why most countries do not need more donated clothes; they need the clothes resold. And we get into voice: why an elevator pitch is only the ground floor, why business owners grow by speaking at chamber events and clubs, and how to be authentic without telling people what you ate for lunch. Show your messy, show your middle. Or, as Jennifer puts it, “Pobody’s Nerfict”.
🔑Key Takeaways🔑
🐄 💪 Farm Rules Apply to Business: You cannot skip milking the cows. “You’re responsible for something living and you can’t make excuses. You don’t have time to make excuses.” The same rule built a company from nothing: fix it, stretch it, make do, and get up every time you are knocked down.
🔥 🤝 The Partner Who Walked Out: Two months in, Jennifer’s partner wanted out, took the $70,000 buyout, opened the same store in the same plaza and hired away her staff. “It lit a fire under my butt.” It taught her that success is part passion, part hustle, part resilience, and the people you surround yourself with.
🛍️ 💡 Modernize Something Antiquated: Consignment 16 years ago meant dingy and stinky. True Fashionistas built light, bright, organized stores, put every item on the website when other resale owners thought she was crazy, and let anyone in the country ship their clothes in free. “If you want to make some serious money, look at industries that are antiquated and modernize them.”
🎤 📣 Find the Power of Your Voice: An elevator pitch is the ground floor. Jennifer’s seven-week program and one-on-one coaching get business owners ready for the chamber events, clubs and stages where businesses actually grow, down to the body signals they do not know they are sending.
🧵 ✨ Show Your Messy, Show Your Middle: Authenticity is not what you ate for lunch. It is letting people see you fumble and recover. “Pobody’s Nerfict.” People can tell the real deal from the white picket fence, and they will see through it if you are faking it.
More about Jennifer Ann Johnson at www.jenniferannjohnson.com
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More about Jennifer at JenniferAnnJohnson.com
Jennifer Johnson is the founder of True Fashionistas, a $50 million lifestyle resale store and e-commerce consignment platform. Once a national model and actress, Jennifer knows the struggle of juggling business growth, personal branding, and a life you love. That’s why she built a roadmap for success, The Confident Entrepreneur. She’s also a renowned coach, author of the Amazon bestseller Grace & Grit: Becoming a Confident Entrepreneur, and host of the award-winning podcast, The Confident Entrepreneur. She is a Gulfshore Life Businesswoman of the Year honoree, Small Business Association Emerging Leader, Distinguished Entrepreneur Nominee, Listed as one of Collier County’s 100 Most influential leaders 2 years in a row and Leadership Florida graduate. She’s been featured on Inside Edition, Home Delivery, TIME Magazine, Martha Stewart, CNBC, US News and World Report, The Associated Press, Newsweek, Vogue and Real Simple.
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