We caught up with the brilliant and insightful JoJo Nunes a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

JoJo, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I recognized a creative spirit within myself around 9 years old. I remember telling my family and elementary school teachers that I wanted to be an Image Consultant and an Actress. Of course, I didn’t totally understand what that meant, but I knew that I had a good eye for style, and understood that the way you present yourself to the world is important.

Throughout my years in High School I got involved in the Newspaper Club; in college, I joined a campus magazine, and then started shooting street style for a website called CollegeFashionista when it was pretty new. This was the first time I had fused my love of journalism with style. Not long after, I did a summer internship with Town & Country Magazine’s fashion department and it felt so right being in that environment, that I transferred to another college and stayed in New York. It was the start of such beautiful adventure.

JoJo, 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?

I started out working as a fashion editorial freelancer for Town & Country Magazine. I have always had a taste and eye for the finer things; According to my astrological makeup, I’m essentially wired to, but working at the magazine taught me how to be an anthropologist of the nuances of “good taste”. The concept of “taste” and “good taste” is subjective, as it should be otherwise, we can quickly careen into classism, elitism and being exclusionary.

During the pandemic I took a class on interior design, and began taking on small decoration projects for friends. My first project was for a friend’s hair salon suite in Silver Spring, MD. I went on to do a full salon project for another friend in New York City, this project was a huge undertaking and required me to pull from my project cycle skills I built as a fashion freelancer. My decoration work also includes small set design and tablescaping.

Another huge passion of mine in the home space are products! I curated items for my online shop 47th x Ashley during the pandemic. My goal with my shop is to create the feeling of wandering on a weekend morning with a cup of coffee and finding one-of-a-kind pieces that you can add to your home. The process of curating the products was very hands on and fed the creative project beast inside me. What I mean by that is, creative projects really make me feel alive. Every single detail was thought of during that process; I was going store to store in the garment district of New York finding fabric samples, I tested out various zipper colors for my throw pillows, searched for a ceramicist who would create small batches of unique mugs, and tested out candle scents that felt elegant and worldly.

I’ve taken a break from my shop because a retail business realistically requires a lot of resources to sustain itself, and I have found a lot of joy in creating home decor and lifestyle content in the meantime.

I consider the content that I make to be a tastemaking club for those who want to fuse the little luxuries that the world has to offer in a more intimate setting at home. What I share can be as simple as hand soaps with a scent that will live in your house guests minds rent free, to how to serve caviar or tablescaping. I made a video on my favorite way to serve caviar and received so many private messages from people who admitted they always wanted to try it but didn’t know where to start. It made me proud that I could be make a luxury approachable.

What sets me apart from others in the home decor space is that I believe in personal style. Style is becoming less personal because what’s trending online dictates consumer habits which is unsustainable for everyone involved. I try to push back on filling a space with trendy items, especially with clients who are still trying to find their stylish voice, because they will outgrow it. If I work on a decorating project with you, I’m going to try to guide you toward colors, patterns, textures that truly move you. I want the people who walk into your home to feel YOUR essence, not my essence, not whatever happens to be trending on TikTok or the explore feed. Those can be great places to try out trends in small ways like a pillow or glassware; however, whatever we create for your home space needs you to be the core.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Seeing someone in all their power and beauty in a space I created for them. An environment can be transformative to someone’s energy and attitude, and it’s an amazing feeling to be able to help them tell their story in a rich and layered way. My video content has also introduced a new feeling of reward that has been surprising, video content is so new for me, at times it feels like I’m just posting into a void, even feeling really silly for doing it; then I’ll be talking with someone in real life and they bring it up and tell me what they liked or what they learned, it makes my heart beat a bit faster because I realize that I’m providing value or entertainment to someone, little by little. As a creative that encouragement is a needed reward for when you’re feeling unsure.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Yes, making my inner child proud, fulfilled and liberated is what drives me. A lot of what I wanted in life as a little girl is still waiting on me to find it. The little version of me was surprisingly very wise, very ambitious and very disciplined. It’s my job to see her original vision through, so I can move on to the sparks of inspiration I’m having as a 30 something. There’s a lot of creative ownership I’m hoping to achieve particularly with video media. However, the first thing I’m focusing on is providing long form video content. Martha Stewart and B. Smith are huge inspirations for me, and I see that path for myself long-term.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.47thxashley.com
• Instagram: @joneesaisquoi