We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jenny Soffin. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jenny below.
Jenny, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
After growing up a short drive from the Indiana Dunes, going to the Northwest Indiana beaches in the summer…you appreciate how wonderful this area truly is after you move away from it and come back. My husband Eric and I met at Western Michigan University and both moved to San Francisco, CA after we graduated. We lived there 10+ years and decided to move back to the Midwest to raise our kids. Living in Southwest Michigan and Northern California, we saw how proud people were to grow up and/or live there…I loved that enthusiasm and wanted to bring that love back to Northwest Indiana. “The Region” is not necessarily known for our glorious beaches and shark-free Lake Michigan, but rather our steel mills, Bass Pro and the few exits you might stop for gas on your way from Chicago to Michigan. I say that lovingly, but I was ready to change that!
It was the summer of 2016 and friends of ours came to visit from CA. Jen Carroll, my born and raised Pacifica, CA girl could not believe her eyes when she saw the great Lake Michigan. The first thing she said to me is “Jen…this is not a lake! You can’t even see across it.” I just giggled and said, “I know! The Great Lakes are our Midwest oceans!” Over the 5 days she was here, my bestie Jen kept calling it the Indiana Coast, whereas, us locals call it the lakefront or shoreline. I found the Indiana Coast to be catchy. A day before they were scheduled to leave, Jen asked if I could take her to get some “merch.” I was very intrigued by this question, because I have always had a “love where you live” mentality and knew if there was local merch available, I’d probably have it and I didn’t…well, that’s because there wasn’t any. Cue the big idea….The IN Coast.
Jenny, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
You never really know during those college days if you’ll actually use your “major,” but here I am using my Business & Marketing degree from Western Michigan University. Yes, I’m a proud Bronco, and college cheerleader all 4 years as well. I do have a natural aura for seeing the good and promoting it when I think it should be promoted. And that’s pretty much how The IN Coast lifestyle brand came about. I had been a “stay-at-home mom” which is funny because I was never at home for years to develop and promote the two things that mattered most…our children, Maddie & Max, now 16 & 14. My time “at home” with them included all the things….volunteer room mom, volunteer librarian, volunteer recess monitor, field trip chaperone, classroom party planner, any type of after-school activity that needed a coach or volunteer…I was there. And I wanted to be there. In addition to said Marketing degree…my dedication to our school environment, in turn, became my core supporters for The IN Coast. I don’t have special titles after my name that make me more qualified for starting my own business, but I’ve always invested in my community and now they’re investing in me.
What are you most proud of and what are the main things you want others to know about you?
What I am the most proud of is building a connection with our youth. Kids need adults in their life that believe in them and that LISTEN to them. After all my volunteer time, I took a part-time job as a Substitute Teacher. I shared my IN Coast ideas with these tweens and teens my students because I wanted their input. I even let one of my 8th grade classes create one of our first products…bandanas! I believe if kids grow up loving where they live, they will have pride and be a better contributor to their society…wherever that may be.
In 2018, two years after launching and building The IN Coast brand, I was nominated by the Northwest Indiana Influential Women Association for Upcoming Woman of the Year for Marketing. What an incredible honor and something I’m very proud of! Although I did not win in 2018, I was nominated again in 2019 and I did win. That moment was surreal for me. I had already felt like a winner creating a hometown brand that everyone believed in and wore around town and on their vacations, but to be nominated twice by your peers and to win was a feeling I can’t describe. I’m extremely proud!
Finally, something I will always appreciate are the emails and notes we receive from our customers. Every online order we send out, we include a hand written note of thanks and ask how they heard about us. We don’t always hear back, but when a customer takes the time to let us know how grateful they are for our little Hometown brand and the connection it creates to home for them it reignites the reason we started The IN Coast. Northwest Indiana is a tiny dot on our great big map and we are proud of creating a brand that helps our IN Coasters us feel a sense of home!
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
If I’m being honest, I think I’m writing my story of resilience right now. I’ve been at my business since July of 2016. I have never-ending energy when it comes to our little brand. I’ve poured my heart and soul into building this IN Coast brand and the community around it. Late night after late night spent on the constant pulls of having your own business. The 5-6 hours a night of sleep never phased me…I knew it probably wasn’t the healthiest schedule. I was starting to see physical signs of exhaustion, but didn’t allow myself time to consider a better schedule. Our retail shop, customer service, new ideas, and social media posts were my top priorities.
One thing that I never allowed is for my business to come before my family, but what I never considered is not allowing the business to come before me. I have continually put myself last since July 2016…that’s 6.5 years. This past holiday season was our busiest and it broke me. It was our most successful, but I have never felt so worn down. Was all this go go go worth it? My always resilient self thought…I made it through and now it’s January…a time when the retail world can take a breath and recoup. Perfect right? Not so much. Our daughter got sick with an extreme case of mono that put her in the hospital for 5 days. Seeing her so lifeless and ill frightened me and nothing else mattered. I was even more exhausted. Thoughts of selling the business entered my mind. When YOU are the entrepreneur, YOU have to keep it moving forward, but what happens if YOU need a break?
By this time, it’s now February 2023. Our daughter finally returns to her normal activities and school, but guess who finally falls apart? Me. About mid-February, my mind, body and spirit blew its fuses. I spent 12 hours in the hospital having every test under the sun to find out why my fuses blew. No answers. I’m healthy, but I did come to realize that I’m human and human’s break. I feel a bit broken right now. I took the remainder of February and now the beginning of March to fix myself. Sometimes taking that break will fix what’s broken. I do believe that I’m resilient. I believe with time and some much needed self-care that I will be able to continue my journey of resilience! And if not, then I’ll watch for signs that guide me to the next steps in my journey…
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
I love this question because I have my very first customers to thank for growing our IN Coast clientele. Like I said in my intro question…I was a substitute teacher when I started my business AND the Discovery Charter School families/students are the ones who first supported my idea! There wasn’t anything like The IN Coast branded merchandise for the Indiana Dunes area. So not only did The IN Coast fill a void in the market, our customers were thrilled and when a customer falls IN love with a brand, they are the ones who get the credit for growing it! If it weren’t for our incredible customers, we would not continue the growth that we’ve had since getting started in 2016. We are sold and worn all over the world…who knew our little slice of Indiana paradise was so cool? I did! :-)
I continue to connect with our customers via social media and in-person at our brick and mortar shop. We donate to our favorite nature and environmental based organizations which also builds a special bond with our brand. My energy for our little hometown brand is definitely contagious and I am resilient!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.theincoast.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/theincoast
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/theincoast
Image Credits
Jen Soffin Stephanie Pinkerton