Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenn Carter.
Hi Jenn, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
“Just a small town girl…..” Every time that song comes on, I think about my hometown of Valley View, TX and how far I’ve come and how much I’ve grown. It’s definitely been a wild journey! Valley View is a tiny town right off of I-35 north of Dallas/Ft. Worth with just one blinking red light and an obsession for sports. Think Friday Night Lights. Growing up in a small town, you usually fall into what your parents do and take over when they retire. Art is definitely not ever spoken about, nor was taken seriously.
Starting around age five, I would go over to my Grandmother Leta’s house everyday after school and a lot of weekends where she was always sewing or doing something creative. She would teach me how to sew, knit, paint, stitch you name it! That is where I got my passion for art & creativity.
In school, my favorite class was always art. In elementary school, I would have about 1-2 hours after school in my mom’s computer classroom where I learned how to use Corel Draw and Paint on those early 90’s computers. I remember painting a basketball scene all with a mouse that took about three weeks to do. If only I could find that floppy disk where it’s saved! As I got older, I would paint posters for pep rallies, spirit tags, decorate the hallways, create t-shirt graphics, just anything creative I was the one to go to.
Even after all that, when I was graduating I didn’t think once about art as a profession. My parents were set on me going to Business School at University of Texas. It was a big challenge to leave life in our small town. I lived at Jester West, which had more students than my hometown. I was definitely a fish out of water. After 1.5 years of business classes, I found myself wanting to go into fashion design which was my true passion. Without telling my parents, I transferred to University of North Texas to get into fashion school. Let’s just say it took my parents a long time to come around to the idea that I was majoring in a degree that is not the norm and certainly not something that they thought could be lucrative. For me, it’s not about the money. It’s about being excited about what you are working on and seeing that hard work bring people joy.
After graduating in 2007 with a degree in Fashion Design, it was very hard to find jobs and only a handful of my class found one in our field. My first job was a CAD Designer at The Apparel Group designing wovens, stripes, and graphics indirectly for Nordstrom, Dillards, Banana Republic & Brook Brothers. Designing on computers felt like my expertise and a route that I wanted to take in this industry. From there, I became a Textile Graphic Designer at JCPenney where I was designing the graphics, prints, and wovens for baby, toddler & kids Arizona Brand. It felt like a full circle having grown up wearing Arizona! I then made my way to San Francisco where I designed baby, toddler and boys at Gymboree followed by the same categories at GAP Outlet.
In 2017, I went on to Chubbies as one of the first employees in design as an in house print and graphic designer. Currently the Director of all prints & graphics. Those fun, colorful prints that Chubbies is known for are created by myself or a talented group of external artists I work with. At Chubbies, we are all about a feeling that “The Weekend Has Arrived” so I make sure that each print reflects that vibe and customers are getting new and fresh prints each season. One of the best parts of the job is having the opportunity to travel the world to meet vendors and find inspiration. This past February marked five years and it’s been a wild ride to see the growth of our company from when I joined. What was a team of 25+ employees when I walked in the door has grown to 120, we have multiple stores, our products are sold in stores such as Nordstrom, Dick’s, PGA, Academy, we have a huge online presence and now we are a public traded company! All those hours that everyone put in to conquer the world of short shorts paid off. That is rare in fashion.
That is just my 9-5 with the occasional 1-3am. My best work usually comes in the middle of the night over a glass of wine. I love art and design so much that I have always done a lot of side hustle throughout the last 20+ years. Projects range from canvas paintings, invitations, flyers, posters, illustrating books, custom logos, websites, kid’s costume swimwear, packaging, marketing graphics, painting classes and even custom prom dresses. Other companies I’ve worked with occasionally are Salty Mermaid, Draw & Fade, Tiny Crowns & Coconads.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Life is never a smooth road, it’s how you choose to conquer those rough patches. One of my favorite Bob Dylan lyrics is “you better start swimming or you’ll sink like a stone.” My biggest struggle was becoming independent after a divorce. It made me question what I was doing in my career and my life. It pushed me to take a chance on moving to a new state without a job. I just felt I needed to go out into the world and experience things outside of my bubble that I was comfortable with. I sold my car, cashed in my savings, took on various graphic design freelance jobs to survive on until I landed a job. It was a struggle financially but I look back on it now and I think of how incredibly lucky I am to have made lasting connections in the clothing industry as well as other creative fields.
As my career was progressing, I had another bump in the road – GAP Outlet laid off all of its headquarters in San Francisco. I had a major panic attack. I was living in one of the most expensive cities with student loans and already living lean. I immediately updated my portfolio, started to pick up freelance and applied for jobs. My best friend’s husband had known Rainer, a co-founder at Chubbies, in college and had passed my resume on to him. I gathered all of my samples of work and had an interview and the rest is history. Your path always takes on a life of its own. The challenge is knowing how to navigate that road and end up to where you want to go.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I love working with so many analog mediums – from watercolor, acrylics, markers, stamping to ink drawings. On the computer, I create vector art in Illustrator or use Procreate to make one of a kind prints or graphics.
My most notable piece of art is of two watercolor roosters that I created right when I started contracting at Chubbies. Our co-founder Rainer and Creative Director Alexis were brainstorming a new animal and a rooster it was! Now it has become a top swim print. It’s been crazy to see professional athletes like Patrick Mahomes or Ryan Fitzpatrick wearing it. I ran into someone on two different vacations in Hawaii and Mexico. Even going to get groceries locally, I’ll see someone wearing that print! It brings me such happiness that something my hand created brings joy to their life enough to want to wear it. I keep both of them framed at my desk as a reminder of why I do what I do. That feeling will never get old.
Another proud moment was when we IPO’d and I had created a custom print specifically for that occasion. Everyone at the stock exchange was wearing that print on the floor when we rang the bell. I never thought that in a million years, or my wildest dreams, that I would have created something that would be iconic, have celebrities/athletes, or symbolize anything significant.
What’s next?
My future plan is to continue to grow and push myself as an artist. I want to continue to bring smiles and joy to people through prints and graphics that I create. I hope one day to have my own studio. I love to have a vision and work with other artists to make that vision happen. The world is full of talented people and would love to work with more creatives and allow them to have more visibility and make connections for their future. As Bob Dylan says, “she’s an artist she don’t look back.”
Contact Info:
- Email: jenn.marie.carter@gmail.com
- Website: www.jenncarterdesigns.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenn_carter32/
Image Credits:
Sarah Swanson
