Founder/ President
Sorry if this is too long!!
Born in Canoga Park, a suburb of Los Angeles, California. As a child I was always involved in the arts- taking painting and drawing classes as early as 8 years old, but mostly involved in performing arts (dance and acting) up until high school when I refocused more onto fine arts. After high school I spent about 4-ish years continuing focus on fine arts at various community colleges until I settled on a Fashion Design major. I decided to go to the Art Institute because of location and cost (this turned out to be a weird decision as the school closed because it was sued for billions of dollars by the US government due to predatory lending and defrauding students). It was during my time in here that I started making jewelry and accessories as a hobby. During college I was also one of the first interns and design assistants at Skingraft Designs (now called Jonny Cota). I also worked part-time at our family business designing and installing high-end wood flooring for celebrities and other world elite folx. I graduated with honors smack in the middle of the recession in 2008, and since then it has been a wild, wonky ride.
During the recession I was lucky to get a fulltime job at Bare Collection, an LA based jewelry and accessories brand. After a while there I bounced back to the family business, where I also began focusing more time on my own collection (at the time called Rune Accouterments), as well as working part time for another fine jewelry designer, Carrie Hoffman. The natural world and semi precious gems have always inspired my personal aesthetic and mindfulness practices, so branching off into the metaphysical and occult worlds with Ritual Kits and Candles seemed like a natural progression. I launched my first Kits in 2014 at Artists and Fleas arts and craft fair where they sold really well, and from there I continued to make and experiment more with new concepts and designs, including the crystal candles and apothecary.
At Capsule LA in August of 2016, I showed both my jewelry and ritual/ wellness collections under my new brand name J. Southern Studio. The Wellness/ Ritual collection completely blew everyone out of the water: we got so many orders that season I didn’t know how to handle it. But, almost 7 years later, I have a full-fledged business where we hand-make ritual tools full-time. I currently have a part-time business partner, 5 employees who are all artisans in their own right, and a very supportive family, network of friends, and boyfriend. I would definitely not be here today if it weren’t for my incredible team over the years, friends and family. I am so grateful!
During the pandemic I took up roller skating as an outdoor, fun way to get out of the house and exercise. Because I figure skated as a child, it didn’t take long for my old muscle memory to come back, so I got good pretty quickly. J. Southern Studio has sponsored a few roller skate parties that I have thrown, and this is quickly becoming another small business outlet for me- one that I really enjoy. Roller skating changed my life- I like the community and party atmosphere, the fun-while-exercising aspect (something I have really struggled with), the ever persistent desire to get better and try new things on 8 wheels, plus I enjoy organizing events, so I look forward to where else this journey takes me ☺