As a teenager, Julianne Goldmark attended a private school where she had to wear a uniform daily. Because she couldn’t get creative with her outfits, she resorted to being creative with her hairstyles. At the time, many of her friends were buying expensive hair ties to use in their hair, but Julianne knew she could make some just like them for much cheaper. Along with her good friend Emily, she got to work on her own affordable accessories.
One of the major influences in her life that sparked the idea for creating accessories was the magazine Gossip Girl. As a young impressionable girl, Julianne wanted to create things just like she saw in the magazine and that is where her aspirations began.
At age 14, Julianne and her best friend launched their business, Emi Jay. The business is still up and running to this day and has partnered with a few major brands such as Nordstrom and Spanx.
It is crazy how such a small idea evolved into a major business and that just goes to show that any business idea, no matter how small, could turn into something incredible.
While I never had to wear a uniform to school, I can say that wearing the same thing everyday does not seem appealing. While this is a pretty cool idea for girls, I feel like they could potentially find a way for guys to differentiate themselves too. Could be a cool way to expand into a new market.
I only attended a private school for one year where we had to wear uniforms, but I still remember complaining about my outfits every day because I was never able to wear what I wanted to. I think coming up with fun hairstyles and fun hair ties is a great, innovative way to express yourself in school when you aren’t able to with clothes. Maybe they could expand their products to not just hair, but accessories like belts or jewlery.