🎙️ JJ Martin
I have known JJ Martin for my entire professional career. And yet, until this podcast interview, I hadn’t realized just how much our lives were parallel. We are both California girls, we both left the United States to follow our hearts to Europe, and we both became top fashion journalists in international fashion capitals.
JJ Martin
Now all of this is a fun side note to this interview. But the real reason I wanted to speak with JJ is to finally learn the how and why behind her choice to launch her company, La Double J, in 2015. If ever there was an inspirational story about how to be fearless when it comes to pivoting and creating a second act for your career, it’s JJ’s story.
But I am getting a bit ahead of myself. In this podcast, you will hear all about how JJ was able to start to follow her passion for fashion through the fields of advertising and marketing. How she ended up living in Milan, not speaking a word of Italian. And how a chance meeting with the renowned fashion journalist Godfrey Deeny put her on the path to becoming one of the top fashion writers in Milan, eventually spending 15 years on staff at publications like The Wall Street Journal, Harper’s Bazaar and *Wallpaper.
Today, however, JJ’s love of fashion, and more specifically bold prints and great Italian artisans, has manifested itself into one of the industry’s most beloved independent businesses. La Double J is an e-commerce website that extols all things vibrant and vivid. Her curated selection of vintage patterned prints on easy to wear dresses, pants, and tops have made her site the go-to place for anyone who loves to be the center of attention when they walk in a room.
Better yet, JJ has smartly evolved the company to become an avenue for her to highlight the work of Italian artists and brands that she feels need to be celebrated, such as the porcelain company Ancap, the Venetian glassmaker Salviati, the luxury handbag company Valextra and Acqua di Parma, by creating collaborations that blend their work with her own uniquely colorful universe.
More recently JJ has expanded La Double J even further into the lifestyle brand space with a new focus on the world of wellness and helping women around the planet find their inner goddess. In the section on her site dedicated to living like an Italian, JJ discusses topics like the power of color on the psyche, chakras, and the movement practice of Qi Gong.
Just on a technical side note, I did want to let all you listeners know that JJ and I did our interview over Zoom video. So don’t be surprised by a couple of very minor audio issues. And if you happen to be more of a visual learner, feel free to head over to my signature YouTube channel to watch the video version of this podcast in action.
Now get ready to be inspired by JJ’s story. How she was able to manifest the career she wanted through passion, determination and hard work should motivate all of us. now more than ever, to start following our dreams.
Image by Alberto Zanetti.
