Fierce Feet – Exclusive Interview with FEMME Founder Janis Tello

Luce Minimale - Black Dhs695 FEMME; Luce Minimale in Coco Python Dhs695 FEMME

Fierce Feet

FEMME was founded by CEO & Head of Design Janis Tello. A single mother of three, in her mid 30s with no formal design training she tells us how “hard work, dedication, and persistence” allowed her to make her dream a reality

What do your first 30 mins of the day look like, your morning routine? I am totally not the earliest riser as I work really late into the night with my factories that are overseas, and I oversee all design and production aspects of the business at night and the business aspects during the day. My phone has my attention for the first 30 minutes of the day. Two of my children are in college and the baby of the family is a teen so is o to school very early every morning, so my mornings are pretty much work related. Checking emails, social media for press and confirming my schedule for the day. What is the DNA of the brand, its core values? Our core values are our brand mission. To create footwear that is sustainable, vegan and ethically produced. To create something that can be worn in Hollywood on red carpets yet be accessible and reasonably priced for everyone to access. Most people can’t a ord a designer heel that cost $500+. I wanted to create something for everyone. The brand is handmade to order – why did you choose to scale the business in this way? With fashion being the second largest global polluter through mass production, we only wanted to produce what is ordered. With Covid and delays associated with closures and restrictions, we are now going to stock some of our best sellers in order to meet consumer demand and keep up with these unprecedented times. You’re conscious of sustainability as a brand, tell us how you manage to incorporate this as a young brand? Since our inception I aimed for vegan, sustainable and ethical production. The future is sustainable production. As I mentioned, fashion is the second largest global polluter, climate change is a serious problem and I feel we all must do our part to lessen our participation in factors that directly harm our home “our planet”. It’s a never-ending learning process but it’s the only way. How did you know it was the right time to launch FEMME and what formed the idea for the initial designs? FEMME started o with clothing in 2014. I was already in e-commerce running a multi-brand store selling other designers. I decided to create a clothing collection for fun. I did not think I would make a career of it. FEMME was successful early on with influencers and celebrity placement. Sales increased, so I began to take it more seriously, my team grew immensely, it was no longer a hobby. I put everything I had into the business. Despite all of this with fast fashion peaking in its success I could not compete. Sales diminished and we could not stay afloat, and I had to shrink my team to juts two people, my assistant and myself. We literally handled everything: shipping, customer care, production, every aspect of the brand. I was close to depleting my savings at this point, so I brainstormed and went back to the drawing board. I found a gap in the market for vegan women’s designer footwear. I always wanted to design and produce footwear. I love heels. I went to work, researched, tested out materials, factories and this is how FEMME footwear was born. I went straight to work learning everything I could. I phased clothing out and went full force ahead with footwear. I teamed up with my PR firm Lux Life and together we grew FEMME back up from scratch. You’re based in LA – how was the brand discovered by the likes of Hailey Bieber that have grown visibility of the brand? “If I was down to my last dollar, I’d spend it on public relations.” - Bill Gates

Late 2018, when FEMME clothing was at its lowest point, this quote kept appearing. I do believe in timing and signs and I believe I was meant to see that quote, repeatedly. It would literally stalk me on social media and across the internet. I began analyzing and re-

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searching brands that were like FEMME but managed to stay afloat despite fast fashion. A common denominator across the board was PR. I started reaching out to agencies in October 2018 and came across Lux Life Consulting. From our initial conversation I knew she was the right fit. She understood my mission, my direction and the position I was in. Financially FEMME was a mess. I told her I needed a few months to get my finances in order and I would do my best to start the contract January 1, 2019. Pegauh, the owner of Lux Life went straight to work despite my financial issues. She knew I was hesitant based on the bad experiences I had had with other agencies in the past. She began sending me requests for placements and within a week we landed Kylie Jenner for a Kylie Cosmetics campaign. She literally worked for free for those two months. She has worked alongside me to build this brand. She gets FEMME in the room. This is how Hailey Bieber discovered the brand through Maeve Reiley’s and Pegauh’s relationship. I am forever grateful to her for believing in me and the brand. How important were the perfect proportions both visually and in terms of comfort to you and how long did it take to refine this? Comfort was a must for us. When we launched with our Mules and slippers, we had people reaching out to us that had no experience wearing heels and thanking us for making them so comfortable. Comfort is also relative to the level of expertise a person has with heels. Some love a high heel and swear they are most comfortable, and others find it impossible. We are still learning & developing new techniques for comfort and fit. Visually we aim for minimalistic designs with neutral colours, it is our signature. But we also love a pop of colour. So, we try to work with colour and materials that still are cohesive with our minimalist vibe. Do you feel more drawn to the creative or the business side of the brand and how have you grown the team to support this? I am most drawn to the creative side, but I wear many hats as we are a very small team here at FEMME. I am very hands on. I know every aspect of the business. To date I still jump in on chats with customers on our website. We are expanding but we are taking it slow and learning from the past challenges we once faced. What has been the biggest challenge since launching a new brand and how did you navigate this? The biggest challenge has been evolving with market trends and the growth of fast fashion. It almost closed our doors once. The pandemic also challenged us and continues to do so. Finding ways to evolve has been a challenge but it’s part of every business. Learning and evolving. Do you have any mentors or guides and how does this help navigate the right path? I have pretty much always worked alone and learned alone. I have been working since I was 12 years old. If I didn’t know how to do something I would learn. We have so many resources at our fingertips with the internet. You can learn anything online and I have always pushed myself to the limit. Which piece is your signature which drives sales season after season? Our signature piece is the Luce Minimale Lace – Up Sandal. It’s a celebrity and customer favourite. How has social media a ected the business and which platform has been most useful? Social media is a driving force with any business. Instagram has been most useful to us. There are so many platforms it’s hard to keep up. I find influencers do use the platform most to display fashion and it’s been most beneficial to us by giving the brand exposure and driving sales. You’re a single mother of three and entrepreneur – how do you make this work and what advice would you give to other women with a similar dream? I have worked since my early teens and have been a mother my entire adult life. It’s all I have ever known. I had no option but to make it work. The only advice I can give anyone is, if you have a dream, do it – just start today, don’t wait for tomorrow. Starting is usually the hardest. You will fail, we all have, but keep pushing forward. It’s all part of the process. As mothers we can move mountains when need be. You are your greatest asset. What advice would you give to your younger self starting out? Live a little. I have always been very motivated and ambitious. I’m relentless and have had an obsessive nature from a very young age. I have worked nonstop since I was a teenager, fighting tooth and nail to make something of myself. Because of this I didn’t experience a lot that younger people do. So, if I had a do-over I would definitely “live” more. This is ‘The Renegade Issue’, and we see thinking outside the box as a positive thing. Who for you is a renegade or when have you taken this approach to life yourself? Myself. My entire life has been thinking out of the box, making something out of nothing. I rarely take no for an answer. I was born into poverty, from a broken home. Climbing out of that alone was a challenge. Being born female with societie’s glass ceilings is a challenge. Managing a career and business as a single mother was one of my greatest challenges. Nothing to this day has come easy, yet despite all of this it has made me who I am today and will continue to shape the future of who I am. There are no excuses. Moving forward and utilizing every experience and taking every failure as a lesson in order to the best version of myself.