GET TO KNOW US
GET TO KNOW JESSAKAE
Q: Who is the founder of JessaKae and who currently owns JessaKae?
A: Jordan and JessaKae Maddocks, husband/wife duo.
Q: Where did JessaKae start?
A: We started JessaKae from our basement in Draper, Utah. These are the days we’ll never forget. From all of the dress folding on the couch, the cardboard cities on our patio, the massive USPS mail bags that had to be taken to the post office every day — via a FIAT — yeah we had fun. Operations eventually expanded into the kitchen where we replaced dining room tables with warehouse shelving. The space was quickly dubbed “Jessa’s sweatshop” as it wasn’t uncommon to open the front door and 6-7 people would be inside folding clothes and fulfilling orders.
Within a few months our entire living space was JessaKae. Not too long after that we made our first move to an actual warehouse (I’m pretty sure there was angels trumpeting on this day) but the basement days will always hold some of our favorite memories.
Q: Why did you start JessaKae?
A: Jessa has had her own business since high school. She always had the desire to do her own thing. So when the opportunity presented itself to combine her two loves: photography + fashion she was all in.
Working in the fashion space has assisted her in staying creative and fighting with depression which is something she’s struggled with for years. There’s nothing like helping people feel confident, show personality, and express themselves through fashion.
Being able to create and focus on work that she is passionate about has been the biggest blessing and something that she is truly grateful for.
Q: The name JessaKae is so unique, how’d you come up with it?
A: It’s actually Jessa’s first name — Thanks, Mom! The unique combo was created from her Aunt named Jessica- who was stillborn and Uncle’s middle name, Kay.
Q: What inspires JessaKae?
A: This can be a hard question because we draw inspiration from so many things but some of the fun ones are TV shows like Gossip Girl, Hart of Dixie; The Royals; and fashion week...
We also have a "girl" and we draw inspiration from our girl.
Our girl is:
Imaginative, happy, beautiful, has integrity, is classy and chic, easy and romantic, feminine and flirty, fresh and friendly, glamorous yet playful. She's sophisticated. She's a girly girl, a dreamer, a lover and a romantic at heart.
We also came up with scenarios that our girl would find herself in.
She takes strolls in the park. She’s a mother. She's a sister. She's a friend. She goes on nature walks and picks wildflowers. She goes on picnics and bike rides. She loves to travel. She loves to explore new food spots.
Q: What are some of the struggles you have as a company?
A: One big struggle we deal with is STAYING different and unique — not being but staying. The fashion industry is very dog-eat-dog and it brings out a lot of copy cats that make no effort in being innovative and will just copy their way through business. As flattering as it is to have our designs, and style copied it blurs our individuality and takes away from the lengths we go to be original.
We also battle with a lot of foreign companies that steal our photos and try to sell knockoffs of the same (but not close to the same) items. This is just plain theft and is unfortunate that there are no better ways to fight against it.
Q: Where are your clothes manufactured?
We have a handful of great factories that we work with some in the United States and others that are abroad.
Q: Are you going to start a kids line?
A: It’s definitely been on our minds! One thing about JessaKae is we won’t do something unless we can put our full support and heart behind it. Keep a lookout.
