Women Being Seen

We collaborated with six successful and inspirational businesswomen here in Jersey who continue to pave the way in their industry, inspiring a new generation of business owners and creatives on the island.

We begin our women in business series with Dr. Amanda Bailey owner of The Adjustments co. Amanda is a chiropractor and a health and wellness enthusiast. Having been in the practice for nine years and working in six different practices. When the pandemic hit in 2020, it gave Amanda time to reflect on where she was, and what she wanted moving forward. This led to The Adjustments Co. being formed.

Amanda likes to reflect her job in the clothing she purchases; anything natural with minimal branding. Sustainability is an imperative factor. A lot of Amanda’s purchases have this in mind.

“There’s this thing with chiropractic medicine, should I take a pain killer for a problem and just be away with it immediately but by doing this, that problem's just going to build up overtime, so by the time you’re getting it sorted, in five, ten, twenty years’ time that problem is now massive. And if you had sorted it out in the beginning it probably would have been quite easy. It’s the same with clothing, if I buy something, I want to buy something that’s quality product, that’s going to last me quite a long time, I want it to stand the test of time in terms of design, and stand the test of time in terms of how is it stitched, so rather than buying a twenty quid pair of trainers, I like to buy something better, so hopefully it lasts me longer.”

It’s about finding that balance and being as conscious about keeping the earth in mind when deciding what clothing we should be purchasing. We asked Amanda what her favourite pair of Unseen Footwear sneakers were and she selected the Trinity Tech in Sand from our Conscious Series.

“I like a lot of your shoes, this one in particularly, it's tanned, I’m tanned, and in terms of the colour palette’s I wear, this shoe will go with many different outfits. Linking with sustainability I want one shoe which goes with lots of different things. I would wear these with a dress or a suit. I like it because it’s called Trinity, the colour, is minimal and I see you use Vibram, they’re a very good, durable and comfortable sole, and I’m on my feet all day, so styled sandals or heels aren’t for me as they’re not comfortable. A trainer that’s smart and professional, because at the end of the day I'm a doctor, so I don’t want to be in a leather shoe with no mobility."

Our next selected female business owner is Ashley the co-owner of Kalimukti Yoga. Ashley started off her career in finance, undecided what she wanted as a career. Soon Ashley realised her heart wasn’t with it, which led Ashley to Australia where their attitudes for health and wellbeing sparked motivation in herself to pursue a career in Yoga.

“They are so clued up on wellbeing there. They don’t exercise because they feel like they need too, they exercise because they love it and because everyone there is just so in tune with looking after their bodies and soul. When I came back, I knew jersey was missing a wellbeing centre, and I knew for myself that I needed to do something that my whole heart was put into, I couldn’t be doing something I wasn’t passionate about. So, I started to teach which is then when I created the business.”

We asked Ashley to share some tips of her own on running a successful business.

“I feel grateful, and happy being able to provide a place for people to practice yoga. I would say my secrets to having a business is probably follow your heart, and if you’re passionate about something, and all you feel like you want to do is put all your time into that. I don’t know if it's luck but hopefully it just pays off. I feel a bit humble; I don’t feel like it's successful I just feel like it’s a model to help me give everyone some yoga.”

We asked Ashley to select her favourite pair from our collections and she selected the Clement in White/Taupe/Gum.

“I love the style because I love the sole, I love the colour, because they’re conscious, and I like that they’re less sporty and more street to studio vibe. If you can be confident in what you’re purchasing, then it doesn’t make you just enjoy wearing them because they look good but because they also have a soul.”

Following from this we have Madeline from Glamour hairdressing. She came to Jersey twenty seven years ago from Dublin. Twenty two of those years Madeline has been a self-employed hairdresser. Starting off Madeline and a former business partner opened ‘The Room’ in Colomberie in 2002. Hard work, determination and a great team quickly enhanced the business into becoming the biggest independent salon in the Channel Islands. During the recession in the late 2000's Madeline pursued a solo venture.

We asked Madeline to share some of her secrets to success;

“to know your target market and to always provide a personal touch.”

Good quality is the highest form of sustainability, Unseen Footwear is all about reducing damage to the earth, so all our resources used to create Unseen Footwear are all sourced within a 15-mile radius of our finishing factory in Italy; Our planet isn’t compromised while bringing premium product to the market.

“It’s fantastic that all the components of the Unseen range are sourced near the factory where they're made, providing and securing jobs for the local community.”

Madeline selected her favourite pair of Unseen Footwear, she selected the Helier in White/Khaki.

Madeline likes Unseen as they enable her to have a pair of shoes which look equally as good with jeans as they do a dress.

Additionally, is Nikki Zachariou from Uberedge Dance. Nikki empowers women through pole and dance classes. Nikki went to university and left a qualified Psychology and Dance Teacher. However, found that the jobs available in her area were very limited. Nikki went travelling after University where she found the courage to attend a street dance class. This aided her to fall back in love with dance, which pushed her to start her own dance classes, hoping there would be others who also missed dancing and wanted to give it another go.

Nikki’s main goals are remaining booked and making sure her clients are happy.

“Over the last 14 years I’ve hit all my big goals and whilst that is amazing once you do it you realise it’s about the connections you make, the people you help and the community you build. The milestones are just a byproduct of bringing this amazing group of women together”.

We Asked Nikki to share some of her tips on running a successful business like her own.

“Just do you and stay in your lane. You don’t need to look at what others are doing. Stay true to you. Chase your dreams and your goals and don’t try to compete with anyone or think that you should be doing something because someone else is doing it.”

Sustainability is a huge factor Unseen Footwear takes into consideration when producing footwear. We asked Nikki if sustainability impacts her decision on what clothes and sneakers she purchases.

"If I know that a brand is also being conscious in the same way. Like with anything … you want to align yourself with brands that have the same values as you."

We asked Nikki to look at our collection and choose her favourite sneaker, and she selected the Aubin in Grey/White. She chose these because of how luxurious and fresh they felt and looked.

Rosie is the owner of the Business Pretty Little Party. The aim of Pretty little Party is to Enjoy Life and have the best parties. Rosie has always had a passion for planning and decorating for friends and family celebrations and has always wanted to come up with a business which would fulfil this passion of hers.

“The whole concept is down to my mum who really knew what it meant to be the life and soul of the party. This is all dedicated to her, even the logo is down to her love of David Bowie.”

Rosie loves owning a business in Jersey. It's small, notorious and a place where everyone knows everyone. Meeting new customers and creating friendships from this business. It’s also enabled Rosie to meet many other businesses who she would never have crossed paths with if it wasn’t for Pretty Little Party.

“Take the risk! I wouldn’t have my business if it wasn’t for taking the risk into the unknown. “

We asked Rosie if sustainability impacts her decision on what clothing and sneakers she purchases.

“Absolutely, it’s been something I have massively taken into consideration personally with my business and something I admire when other business do so too. No matter how big or small the change you make, it matters.”

We asked Rosie to take a look at our collection and choose her favourite sneaker, and she selected the Aubin in Grey/Silver. She chose the Aubin because of the versatility of the sneaker, how they look great with a dress in the summer and a trouser in the winter.

“Not to mention they are the comfiest to wear while working and being on my feet all day!”

Lastly, we chose Chula runs Samphire restaurant. Chula is from America and previously owned a restaurant in England.

Chula’s biggest inspiration for her businesses success is;

“Attitude not aptitude determines altitude”

“Yes, now more so. Which is why now I have some of your shoes.”

Chula reviewed our collection of sneakers and selected her favourite pair. She chose the Trinity Tech in Khaki.

Each of our shoes are named relating to parishes or well-known Jersey locations. Helier, Clement, Trinity, Aubin, Marais and Rozel launching for AW22. To end our chats with everyone we asked them what they would name a range of Unseen Footwear.

Amanda loves a North Coast walk, so would name a range ‘Coast’ or ‘North Coast’

Ashley grew up east side of Jersey, and loves Grouville, she decided she would name a range The Gorey.

Madeline lives at Harve des Pas, so would love to see a pair called ‘The Lido’

Nikki would name a range ‘Liberation’ to celebrate the freedom we have back and make this the biggest comeback ever.

Rosie would name a range ‘The Bay’ as Jersey is full of beautiful bays; from St Brelades’ to St Ouens’.