LIMITED EDITION 2024 COIN LAUNCHES NOW!
A NOTE FROM JANE
When I got back from Florida, the āedgeā had been taken off winter. The birds are back and chirping. During my daily afternoon walk with Mr. Jane Win (we walk almost every day for at least an hour, on the weekends MORE, talking through business and kids and life, getting aligned ā„ļø) I started to see crocuses and buds on the forsythia. Spring is coming.
Despite being scared and SICK of all the bad stuff that continues relentlessly to surround us in the news, I am so excited for what is to come. This is not Janie as the eternal optimist, this is Jane of Jane Win, excited about business and new pieces we adore and new employees and new spaces. Hereās a breakdown.
As we finished 2023 and wrote our strategy for the coming year, we realizedā¦we need more HELP. Interviewing and filling positions can be a little overwhelming. We received 100 resumes for a new āproduction associateā position. Because of our core values, we really try and treat every applicant with respect. Itās labor intensive to write a thoughtful position description, read through resumes, say ānoā to those that donāt fit and interview those that could work. We have met some wonderful people during this time, and I am so happy to say, you will see new team members at Jane Win this Spring. Itās like new spring flowers! FRESH fun new people to help us create and share our coin jewelry and charms.
As I was interviewing someone, all of a sudden I had a flash to my own kids ā making their way in the world. This delightful young women had applied for a job with us and she wasnāt quite a fit, but WOW was she a lovely person. She looked her best and we had a zoom call talking about her experience. It takes A LOT to put yourself out there. I am 51 and weathered and worn by years of work, this young woman is seconds out of college, working part time in retail until she can find a full-time job. She is out there applying to a million jobs and scheduling the zooms and opening herself up ā itās not easy! I think having empathy during this process is something that many forget. Understanding that you are in a position of power when hiring grounds me and reminds me to put myself in their shoes. Treat these new kids - these spring chickens ā with kindness.
It may be hitting me harder because I have 2 kids graduating from college this May. Drew, my only boy (he is my stepson but the closest thing I will ever have to a son of my own ā„ļø). He has loved college. He has built a community of good people, and he has to leave all that and go out and build a life. Like any parent ā I want to do all the hard work for him! But I canāt. His Dad canāt, his Mom canātā¦his loving Bubby canāt. He has to do it, just like the young woman I interviewed, go out there and interview and do the zooms and prep for the meetings and get rejected and, eventually, find the next step.
Sabrina is also graduating from Emory and is going to law school. That process has been a humbling learning experience for us both. Studying for the LSATS, fighting for the scores. She wasnāt sure is she was āgood enoughā and almost put off applying for a year ā and then pushed forward through the apprehensionā¦to land in a great position with incredible schools to choose from. Next week we will visit two schools in Boston, the week after two schools in PA, and then she will decide. Moving from Atlanta to start a new phase of her life, making all new friends in a new school. I want to do it for her, but she will do it and it will make me so PROUD.
Four years ago, we launched our graduation coin during covid when we wanted to do SOMETHING for these kids who lost graduations to weird zoom ceremonies. Drew and Sabrina are those kids, the class of 2020 whose graduations were canceled, whose Fall semesters at college were just a mess with no socialization. And here they are, graduating from college. From one challenge to the next but ā with resilience and optimism.
As usual I put so much thought into the words that go with the coin, here is what accompanies the 2024 graduation coin:
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For Jane Win, Spring brings a lot of newness. Not only will have new team members, we are also moving into an incredible new office space. We have been in our current office, an old dry cleaner I did my best to make look elevated and chic (letās admit, it was lipstick on a pig!). This is the space we moved into the Spring of 2020. We moved in DAYS before covid shut down the office. Days after Rachel, our first employee, started! I was so excited to move Jane Win out of the house and invest in an office space, invest in our first employeeā¦and then it all shut down. I remember sitting at my desk crying, thinking it was all over, that the business was doomed.Ā
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Thanks to you and the way Jane Win was embraced, we grew through covid. And now 4 years later, we are moving up, from 1000 square feet to 3000 square feet! Last week it was drywall, this week new floors. It is going to be a beautiful place for Jane Win to live. Needless to say, when we moved into our current office we were lucky to afford a coat of paint. It feels like the ābig timeā. I am nervous and excited, overwhelmed but so proud and hopeful (hmmm, more like determined) that we can continue to grow thoughtfully.
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When I left Lilly Pulitzer and I was speaking with my boss about the Jane Win concept, I told him how important it was ā to me ā that we give back. Should there be a charitable component baked into every sale? He said, āJanie, as you grow, you will pay taxes, you will employ people, you will lead according to your core values in a fair and inspiring way, and that is a form of giving back.ā And wow was he right. Letās not get into how much we may in taxes š
but more importantly, we have a voice (you are reading this right now!). We employ 7 full time people ā we also have a lot of local kids working in the office ā we have 8th graders from Radnor walking to JW to work after school, we have gals from Agnes Irwin School, a young man from Episcopal Academy, we have a sophomore at Villanova ā all working at Jane Win after school ā watching a business be built. AND on top of that, when we make our sales plan we give back to educational based organizations (internationally Girl Rising and locally the Radnor ABC House).Ā
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Itās a lot for me to wrap my brain around. The connection between interviewing and hiring these fresh new faces straight out of school. Being the MOM of two lovely kids headed out into the world. They survived through the mess of a senior spring of covid, Jane Win survived, moving into an office we have now outgrown. All in 4 years. And guess what, not only did we ALL put ourselves out there ā we moved the ball forward. And I am so excited for the future. Spring is coming āļø
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Sending love and xx, Janie
