JEN MENCHACA is the founder and creative director of Nation Ltd, a premier women's contemporary collection found in department stores and high-end boutiques. Jen founded the company in 2005 and her line has evolved from one simple V-necked T-shirt to a premiere apparel business found in boutiques around the world. Her apparel is distinguished by its ultra-soft fabric, vintage details, and elegant trendsetter style worn by chic women and celebrities.
Listen Jen talk about:
How she has never listened to a podcast before and this interview is her very first and she finds it a “very cool experience.” She had first worked at the front desk of Extra TV. She answered phone calls from the entertainment industry. Her contacts list grew because of her job there as a receptionist. As a child, her father who worked at NASA encouraged her to become an engineer and did his best to lure her into the same industry. During summers, she was offered a job as a cashier at the official NASA gift shop. She refused to work at NASA primarily because she didn’t want to wear a space suit. She studied at the University of Texas and earned a B.S. in Advertising. She then moved to New York City where she ended up working as a professional cocktail waitress, eventually working her way up to a weekend bartender position. She moved to Hollywood after 5 years in NY and got a first job with David E. Kelly Productions on the hit TV series Ally McBeal. At the same time she had been eyeing her dad’s white V-necks. She created one perfect vintage white v-neck for women and they wore it. She held 2 jobs as long as she could (almost 9 years) while setting up her Nation LTD firm. She also taught at South Central Eventually, Nation Ltd became so big that she had to leave the showbiz industry. Her fabrics need enzyme washing.(Enzyme wash uses enzymes produced by living organisms. The enzymes are engineered to perform in a particular way so it is ecologically friendly. The enzymes biodegrade rather than linger in the water supply.) Her mom died of ovarian cancer and left her a small inheritance money which she invested in her business. Her business has shifted so much in the last 2 years that boutique and department stores are regular consignment. She chases everything and goes here there and everywhere trying to please all clients. She has shifted back to basic and core designs. She doesn’t sketch or design. Someone does it for her. She hires people who are smarter than she is. So is fully supported by people who know how to help her. She values her support team so much. Everybody is important to her. It’s hard if anyone quits because she feels to dedicated to the people she spends most of her day with. She likes coloring fabric. She didn’t learn her business in a business school. She doesn’t understand cash flow A friend helped fund her company. She had 7 different rounds of funding. Her secret to having sources of funding is in connecting to people. She talks to everybody because “You never know who you gonna meet. I created different connections.” She didn’t prepare any business plan. She simply made friends and connections. She discovered that it’s really about needing people. Her investors didn’t put money into any business plan, they just invested on her. She made a lot of mistakes along the way and she even repeated her mistakes but she never gave up. Technology has a lot of impact on her business. She is learning every single day. She makes changes to adapt to a very fluid business environment so she is always prepared to shift and adjust accordingly. She was featured on HSN (Home Shopping Network)and sold out all her scarf. She sells her apparel on many different outlets and stores such as Bloomingdales, Revolve, Madison, A Pea in the Pod, Black Label, and many others. She also sells every single product on her website. With a Peruvian backer, she is planning to have a stronger online business selling basic designs. She is selling in Canada. To find a store in Canada that carries Nation LTD apparel, pls contact Dawn at Wilshire Fashions.
For inquiries http://nationltd.com/pages/contact
