On this version of Empowered Women Empower, be part of us for a peek contained in the inspiring world of Jennifer Fessler, CEO and co-founder of F. Main, a luxurious shoe model utilizing progressive consolation expertise. Jennifer and co-founder Shari Friedman, the president of F.Main, met in faculty. They by no means imagined this may be life of their 50s, however a shared love of style and an age-induced want for snug heels introduced them collectively for the larger good of all style-loving toes! Learn on to be impressed by Jennifer’s great ardour and drive.
Contained in the Empowering World of Jennifer Fessler, CEO of F.Main
Love Occurs: As our identify and the tagline of our writer, KOKET, denotes, at Love Occurs, we’re agency believers that you simply can’t obtain any stage of success with out love. When did your love affair with sneakers start? How did it make you are feeling?
Jennifer Fessler: I believe my love affair with heels started within the womb, as I don’t bear in mind ever not being obsessive about excessive heels! Heels make you are feeling assured, empowered, and SEXY! I’m relationship myself right here, however like so many ladies of a sure age, I used to be a Carrie Bradshaw/Intercourse and the Metropolis ADDICT! As a lot as I cherished heels earlier than the long-lasting present, I discovered concerning the true luxurious heel (Manolo, Jimmy Choo, Balenciaga) from Intercourse and the Metropolis. Again within the day, I may solely covet that luxurious. After I may lastly afford a $500+ pair of heels, I discovered that they had been as painful as they had been lovely. And the older I acquired, the more true that turned. My love and my ardour, and my ache all acquired channeled into F.Main!
Lh: Inform us somewhat bit about your profession main as much as creating F.Main and the way you got here up with the thought for the snug heels model. And, in fact, we need to hear the story behind the identify.
Jennifer: I grew up in Texas and graduated from the College of Texas at Austin. I’ve at all times been a self-proclaimed “fashionista” who loves something garments, sneakers, and make-up. After graduating from faculty, I moved to NYC, the place I labored as a expertise agent, a human sources director, and the director of a relationship service, and different miscellaneous jobs that by no means fairly fulfilled me. After getting married, having youngsters, and transferring to suburban New Jersey, I labored part-time as a recruiter within the style business. At age 50, I took on the position of entrepreneur, and I haven’t appeared again.
F.Main began when, after a fundraiser, I discovered myself strolling the streets of Manhattan barefoot, as yet one more second of carrying my heels was merely an excessive amount of to bear. Refusing to succumb to flats, I began on a quest to discover a single black pump that may get me by an evening with out excruciating ache. My seek for a consolation heel on-line was unsuccessful, because the look of what was being supplied was not horny, to say the least!
My quest culminated in a visit to a division retailer the place I a saleslady informed me that upscale designers don’t make heels for broad toes! She instructed “sizing up” and studying to stroll in heels that had been each too slender and too lengthy for my toes. As you possibly can think about, at age 50, I used to be not inquisitive about re-learning to stroll! That was my “ah-ha” second and the start of what’s now F.Main.
Jennifer Fessler & Sheri Friedman
Introduced collectively by a passion for 80’s music, late-night snacking, and sarcastic rhetoric, after I met Shari Friedman in faculty, I knew I discovered a life-long friendship. Over the following three a long time, our relationship grew as we juggled households, careers, and life whereas dwelling on reverse coasts. We by no means imagined that someday we’d be badass entrepreneurs going out on a limb to show the shoe business the other way up. As self-proclaimed fashionistas, Shari and I at all times cherished to finish our outfits with an ideal pair of heels. So collectively, we launched into an intensive seek for the proper black heel—one which was horny, albeit snug—a shoe we may put on with every little thing and get by a enterprise assembly or an evening out.
Our mission isn’t solely to offer horny, snug excessive heels, it is usually to assist redefine the picture of the mature lady.
We employed Purple Antler, a premier direct-to-consumer branding company based mostly in Brooklyn. We selected the identify F. Main identify for a number of causes. We preferred utilizing a musical notice as we felt it elevated the model. And, fairly frankly, we love the “F” phrase. Our mission isn’t solely to offer horny, snug excessive heels, it is usually to assist redefine the picture of the mature lady. We consider ourselves as irreverent and unapologetically caustic. We rail towards the concept that after a sure age, ladies are anticipated to lose their edge and tackle a subdued and virtually prudish sense of self. The “F-word” isn’t solely in our vocabulary; it represents our outspoken and typically “in your face” personalities. Much less importantly however actually price mentioning, F stands for Fierce and Fabulous and is the primary letter of each of our final names, Jennifer Fessler and Shari Friedman.
Lh: What do you consider the previous phrase, “magnificence is ache”?
Jennifer: I believe it’s BS. I don’t know who it was that got here up with that saying however disgrace on him/her. Life is just too typically painful. Can’t we agree that no matter we do to really feel lovely needs to be a pleasure???
Lh: You lately did a chunk on carrying snug wedding ceremony sneakers. How has the bridal market modified F.Main?
Jennifer: Weddings are the proper storm for dressing up and struggling. We’ve got spent too many hours at what is meant to be a joyous event, going barefoot after cocktail hour. Dancing in celebration isn’t as a lot enjoyable accurately when there’s no quantity of Pinot Grigio that may take away the ache!
Lh: You talked about the quantity of labor put into discovering the correct prototype and the way a lot your organization labored to search out one of the best match for essentially the most snug heels. Would you say that this trial and error made the corporate stronger?
Jennifer: 100%. I had a transparent imaginative and prescient of what I needed F.Main to appear to be. That half was straightforward. I even patterned them after a pair of Prada pumps I felt I needed to have (shhh…..don’t inform!). I used to be sure and decided to search out the holy grail of expertise that allowed for a modern and horny, and slim silhouette that I couldn’t discover in conventional “consolation pumps”. That willpower laid the groundwork for our mission…to offer the center finger to the heel business, which appeared to be ignoring mature ladies.
Lh: Certainly one of your biggest core values is having confidence in consolation. How necessary is confidence relating to being a profitable lady?
Jennifer: Confidence is every little thing relating to success. Interval. Full cease. There are too many roadblocks to success with out having confidence in your skills and your mission. Not that you simply don’t have moments of insecurity…that’s when your crew steps in.
Lh: You’re a Mother, yay, and bless you! How do you stability being a mother and a enterprise proprietor?
Jennifer: My youngsters are my every little thing and can at all times come first. However one of many benefits of beginning a enterprise at 50 is that they’re older. They’re each of their 20s and wish much less consideration when it comes to the day-to-day. I’ll say that a lot of the enjoyment of turning into an entrepreneur at my age is the admiration from my youngsters. Having them (significantly my daughter) watch me reinvent myself is absolutely gratifying, and I hope a robust instance for them.
Lh: What do you think about your biggest achievement?
Jennifer: I wrote a chunk about this. It’s entitled “My startup stole my empty nest”. I’ve 3 infants. My 2 youngsters and F.Main. The three of them are my biggest achievements!
Lh: What empowers you most?
Jennifer: Creativity! I really feel essentially the most highly effective when I’m being artistic. And I’ve discovered that creativity isn’t solely the act of getting an concept and bringing it to life. It requires fixed creativity to run a enterprise. Each side, from advertising to networking to problem-solving, is served by my particular person creativity, and it makes me really feel highly effective!
In essence she took a girdle and made it horny and funky. We would like the identical after we discuss our toes altering with time and the way cool it’s to assert our want and want for a killer heel that doesn’t kill.
Lh: Who’re your biggest inspirations or influences?
Jennifer: I like this query as a result of I like the next lady and her model. Sara Blakely, who invented Spanx, took what was, in essence, a girdle and made it horny and funky. We would like the identical after we discuss our toes altering with time and the way cool it’s to assert our want and want for a killer heel that doesn’t kill.
Lh: What recommendation would you give to somebody beginning within the shoe business?
Jennifer: Have a transparent goal and intention. Whether or not it’s match, kind, or aesthetic, know precisely what defines you and your model.
Lh: Do you may have any favourite empowering quotes?
Jennifer: There are such a lot of mottos and quotes I like. However I can’t say I stay by any of them as they’re continually altering. At this time it’s “gradual and regular wins the race!”
Lh: What’s subsequent for Jennifer Fessler and F.Main?
Jennifer: F.Main’s subsequent “will need to have” shade simply launched. We thought we solely wanted the quintessential black heel. It seems we’d like a beige one too!
Discover snug heels by F.Main at shopfmajor.com.
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