We had the good fortune of connecting with Joni Johnson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Joni, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
I think the most important factor behind Clairvaux’s success is the heart behind serving clients in a luxury environment. Too often luxury stores feel cold, beyond reach and unapproachable. We really strive to meet clients where they are, pour into the relationship and offer exemplary service. It takes years to build a client and seconds to lose them. We preach honesty to our sales staff and none of our stores work on commission. This is to ensure that the customer feels no pressure and our sales staff don’t feel forced to sell something that maybe doesn’t actually look good on the client. We kind of think of ourselves as a fashion fiduciary, really making sure that our products look the best on the client and meets their needs.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’ve been in the fashion industry now for 20 + years. It really has taken every inch of 20 plus years of experience to get me ready for everything I am doing now. There were amazing times in my career and then there were years of being frustrated and feeling stuck. Those years were long and super painful. Often we think if we haven’t achieved a certain level of success after 5 years there is something wrong. The entitlement to fast success is a disease. I see this so much in the younger generation. So much of our life is instant gratification. However, we are missing those long suffering years, the ups and downs to force the endurance we need for a long lasting success. I can honestly say the pain and frustration is what I cherish about my story. The produced long suffering has allowed me to navigate opening a retail store in a pandemic, allowed me to build a healthy culture and teams and a business practice that has seen profit every year of the business.

In college I started out working as a sales associate for Abercrombie and Fitch and loved working in their fast-paced environment. That experience taught me a lot about retail. From merchandising, to music, down to the smell of a space, they were building the biggest brand of the late 90’s. Looking back now, I see how much I took away from that experience now owning my own store. After college, I ended up moving to Kansas City and started working for a newly opened local boutique. Working for a startup was the best experience that could have prepared me for what I am doing now. You see how every detail goes into a brick and mortar, how valuable customer service and the most important, what items work in a fitting room and what doesn’t. I worked for that boutique in various capacities for 15 years. Getting to have in various positions within an organization allows you to see the business from every angle. Working in sales allowed me to know product and people. When I worked as the store manager I was able to see the operations of a business and get to know what makes a location profitable. Then I went on to be a retail director overseeing multiple locations. That allowed me to really see how valuable employees were and how culture and talent are interwoven. I spent 4 years as the head women’s buyer. This allowed me to really understand product assortments, inventory turns. The collective experience of running a business from all angles was my MBA.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

Kansas City has such an amazing feel. It’s a big hometown. It feels big and small at the same time. If my best friend were coming we would definitely plan to attend “First Fridays”. All the vintage antique stores open the first weekend of the month and it’s a hot spot for shopping and art exhibits. In Mid-town we would hit up Billies Grocery for lunch and Urban Mining for vintage collectables. Clairvaux would be in the list- the best fashion destination in the city followed by an iced latte from Front Range! Luce Park is one of my favorite parks in the city. It overlooks the plaza and it has such a beautiful walking path. I would love taking in some down time catching up and getting in some light exercise. Once it was time for dinner, we’d head to NOKA.  A former coworker/ friend of mine opened the most insane restaurant a Japanese fusion experience. He did the entire build out by hand and the menu. Every detail exudes craftsmanship. Late night we would head to the West Bottoms and go to a couple late nights spots. If it’s a dive kinda night I’m going Lucky Boys. If it’s dancing we are headed to the Ship or In the Lowest Ferns. There is honestly so many great spots we would  have to have 2-3 days to do everything.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

Well I can’t talk about Clairvaux without mentioning a long time client of mine, Nancy McCarthy. After she found out I left my job after 15 years, she immediately called me and asked if she could take me to lunch. She asked if I had thought about opening a store on my own. I was so flattered but respectively turned the idea of it right away. I knew how much work it was to create a start up and at the time I wasn’t ready. She just encouraged me that If I ever found myself wanting to pursue something she wanted to be the first to know.

That encouragement and someone saying “ I”m interested in you and what you are going to do next ” had a profound impact on my mental state in a transition time of my life. When I started to interview for my next position I just knew that I couldn’t settle. It was during the interviewing process that I discovered that I indeed might be on an entrepreneurial path. I started working on my business plan and soon reached out to her to show her what I was working on.

Early 2020,  I showed her and her husband they deliberated for all of an hour and called me back to write me a check. That gave me so much confidence in what I believed I was put on this earth to do. Her consistent encouragement gave me the strength to walk opening a business and finding out that I would be opening in the middle of a pandemic. She still remains our greatest cheerleader and such a source of joy for our entire team.

Website: www.shopclairvaux.com

Instagram: shop_clairvaux

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joni-johnson1/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joni.johnson1

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/clairvaux-fairway

Youtube: @clairvaux8810

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