If you have been following our Instagram for the last few months, you have probably seen these lightweight beautiful earrings from the airplane to a ball. A friend introduced us to these earrings, and lo and behold it is a small business – Jane and Cope. Allison and Ashley are the two military spouses behind the business. They met and hit it off while stationed at 29 Palms. Their friendship and love of shopping, the dessert and sunshine led to a budding business. Want to be inspired? Read on!
Allison grew up in Stafford, VA and studied Sociology and Criminal Justice at James Madison University in VA. She has been married 15 years (this summer) and has 3 elementary school aged boys. She loves being outdoors and spending time with her family, which typically involves some type of sporting event. She also loves to shop – and she does that BEST with her partner in crime, Ashley.
Ashley grew up in Muskegon, MI and studied Public Relations at CentralMichigan University. She has been married for 10 years and has a 2nd grade daughterand a pre-k son. When she isn’t making earrings on facetime with Allison, she enjoys working out, shopping and happy hour. She also loves to travel with her family. They just recently got back from visiting her husband in Abu Dhabi!
Jane & Cope had a very natural start. If you google 29 Palms on a map, it is very much in the middle of nowhere (the closest Target is one hour away), so in our “spare” time, we decided to make leather earrings for fun. It didn’t take long before we were getting compliments from the community, so we decided one day to just go for it and open an Etsy shop. From there, it just took off, thanks to family, friends, and a very supportive community in 29 Palms. It has been an adventure we never could have imagined – and we are loving every minute.
The earrings in their shop are chosen by and agreed to by both Allison and Ashley, so every piece lovingly chosen and made in their shop. Every month or so, new leather prints or designs are added to the shop.
Allison’s favorite are the feather shaped and Ashley’s are the teardrop shape (although we both like and wear all shapes). A couple of our favorites are the leopards we have had in the shop (we’ve had several different leopards over the past 2.5 years). We also both love the rose gold and turquoise. Those 2 leather were in our VERY FIRST ORDER – and are still best sellers in our shop.
On balancing parenting with business
We do spend time doing earrings while the kids are in school, but we also spend MANY MANY MANY late nights working on earrings. We have also been known to work while at extracurricular activities for our kids. We’ve also enlisted help from friends and definitely from our husbands (who are both very supportive of our business). The nice thing about our business is that we can work it around our individual schedules, but at the same time, you never really take much of a break, either, when you own your own business. There is always something to be done.
On military life
No one wants to PCS to 29 Palms, but there is so much beauty in the desert, and the community there is like no other.
Allison is [currently] stationed at Fort Leavenworth, KS and her favorite thing to do is attend different sporting events with her family (and eat BBQ, especially burnt ends).
Ashley is currently living in Downington, PA while her husband is overseas unaccompanied for the year. She has enjoyed being able to travel with her kids to see her husband in Abu Dhabi (and travel to Paris and London, to name a few places).
We both agree that the best perk (besides all of the friends you make) is all of the adventures you get to go on while living this military life. Both of our families have had our own experiences traveling across country (and the world). One of our favorite things to do when we lived in 29 Palms was go to Joshua Tree National Park to hike and climb rocks. We’ve also had opportunities to see San Francisco, Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, Badlands, Washington DC, the Liberty Bell …. and the list goes on and on.
Business Tip!
We would encourage military spouses to not be afraid to take risks in your business and think outside the box. Although we move often, this unique lifestyle also allows a way to continually expand your business as you move to different locations and meet different people. Don’t let this lifestyle hold you back from going after something you want in starting a business!
Check them out online at www.janeandcope.com, on Facebook or Instagram (#janeandcope) or for further questions, email JaneandCope@gmail.com.
FREE SHIPPING is offered with every single order, and they run deal/discounts/specials on a fairly regular basis.
From now until May 12th, Jane and Cope has partnered with us for a $50 store credit giveaway! That’s 4 pairs of earrings! What! Head over to our Instagram or Facebook page to enter. Winner will be announced in Instagram stories (and on the Facebook post if you do not have Instagram) on May 13th.
