Jennifer Ann Johnson on Turning Setbacks Into Strategy, Building Florida’s Largest Resale Brand and the Power of “Pink Space”
“I think it all boils down to knowing who you are. You have to be so solid in who you are as a person and what your values are that nothing can shake that. If you know your core values and you know who you are inside, that’s ultimately what’s going to steer your ship. It’s what makes you unstoppable in any endeavor.”
I had the pleasure of talking with Jennifer Ann Johnson. Jennifer is an American entrepreneur, author and small business coach whose career has been shaped by persistence, community ties and a conviction that setbacks can become turning points. She is the founder and chief executive behind True Fashionistas, a lifestyle resale and consignment company based in Florida, selling furniture, home décor, apparel and accessories. She is also the author of “Grace & Grit: Becoming a Confident Entrepreneur,” an Amazon bestseller, and the host of The Confident Entrepreneur podcast, now in its fourth season. In coaching and on stage, she speaks about values-driven leadership, resilience and practical small business operations, drawing on two decades of retail experience.
Johnson grew up the second of six children in a small dairy farming community in Minnesota. The work was hard and money was tight, but she credits the farm with instilling a work ethic and a sense of responsibility. “I start things, and I finish them,” she says, adding that her parents’ example, including volunteering at church to receive food bank support during lean years, taught her integrity. She later served as an usher at her church, a role that took on added meaning after her father’s death.
Early adulthood brought detours. Johnson earned a scholarship for broadcast journalism and imagined herself in a television newsroom. An abusive relationship kept her from enrolling, she says, and it took time to leave and regain her footing. “That dream is still alive,” she notes. After meeting the man who would become her husband, she returned to school while holding several jobs. The path was incremental. She took seven years to complete an associate’s degree, married, started a business and became a mother to twins, then put further study aside while she built her company. Two decades later, with her children grown, she went back to finish her degree before 50. She completed her final course in statistics and plans to walk at commencement, a milestone she describes as a full circle moment.
Her first venture began after planning her own wedding in 2001. What started as wedding coordination expanded quickly. She learned niche services on her own, from chair cover rentals to ceiling draping, moved operations into a storefront and added bridal gowns, bridesmaids’ dresses and tuxedo rentals. She ran that business for about 12 years before a family move to Florida. During a market downturn she tried managing the Minnesota shop from afar, then pivoted to a new concept inspired by childhood mornings spent “garage saling” with her grandmother, who would tailor thrifted clothes to fit. True Fashionistas opened with a partner, but two months in the partnership collapsed. Johnson says her partner left, signed a lease in the same plaza and opened a nearly identical store, taking most of the staff. Johnson and her husband cashed out his 401(k) to keep the doors open. “Things happen for you, not to you,” she says, a line she returns to often. Fifteen years on, she points to steady growth, a broad mix of inventory sourced from local consignors and a loyal customer base that, in some cases, has shopped with her from high school through marriage and parenthood.
Resale’s appeal, Johnson argues, reflects economic and cultural shifts. Shoppers save money and reduce waste, she says, while consignment provides a local supply chain that is insulated from import tariffs. She credits younger shoppers for pushing the stigma out of secondhand, and she emphasizes presentation, curated selection and service. She also emphasizes risk management in the trade. In one incident she recounts, a seller brought in what he claimed was an Hermès Birkin bag and pressed for a cash purchase. Johnson photographed markings and consulted a contact. A flaw in the lock revealed the bag to be counterfeit. “Trust, but verify,” she says, a lesson she has carried from partnerships to luxury authentication.
Her second chapter stretches beyond retail. Johnson writes and speaks about anchoring decisions in clearly defined personal values, a framework she says turns confusion into clarity. In “Grace & Grit,” she introduces what she calls “pink space,” a deliberate pause in tense or joyful moments to notice what is happening and consider the lesson. The book blends memoir with exercises for readers. On her podcast and in workshops she works with entrepreneurs who feel scattered or stuck, encouraging them to align operations, hiring and customer experience with a short list of non-negotiable principles.
Johnson’s five takeaways for founders, distilled from the arc of her career, begin with building a “personal board of directors,” paid professionals and mentors who provide perspective. She urges leaders to look for the message in the setback, to practice humility by working shoulder to shoulder with their teams, to cultivate stillness through her pink space practice, and to rely on faith. “You are not in the driver’s seat,” she says, describing the relief that can come from letting go of total control.
She continues to be active in local charities, including work related to sexual assault. The most meaningful feedback, she says, comes from people who disclose their own histories after hearing hers. One woman, newly arrived in Florida and facing serious illness, told Johnson that reading her story prompted her to seek counseling. Those conversations, Johnson says, reinforce the point of being visible and candid about hardship.
Johnson lives in the United States. Her business can be found at truefashionistas.com, and her personal site, which includes information about her book, podcast and speaking schedule, is jenniferannjohnson.com. She is active on LinkedIn and Facebook under Jennifer Ann Johnson, where she shares updates from the store and her work with small business owners.
Yitzi: Jennifer Johnson, it’s so nice to meet you. Before we dive in deep, our readers would love to learn about your personal origin story. Can you share with us the story of your childhood, how you grew up, and then the seeds for all the great things that have come since then?
Jennifer: Sure. I grew up the second oldest of six siblings in a very small farming community in Minnesota, on a dairy farm. I didn’t really want to be on a dairy farm at that age. I didn’t like it and had bigger aspirations. But now, looking back, I’m thankful I grew up there because the values we learned from my parents really helped shape who I am today.
In high school, I met a boyfriend and was with him for two years. I’m going to be very open and honest here, because that’s just who I am. He was extremely abusive in every way you can imagine. That’s actually the reason I didn’t go to college at first. He kept a tight grip on me, threatened to kill me and my family if I went to school.
I had a scholarship for broadcast journalism — I was going to be one of those anchors you see on TV. That dream is still alive. I’ve never been able to realize it, but it’s still there.
Eventually, I got out of that relationship and met my husband. He encouraged me to go back to college. At the time, we were dating, and I had a full-time job and a couple of part-time jobs. But I thought, “You’re right. Let me go back to school.”
I started at community college. It took me seven years to get my AA degree. During that time, we got married, I started a business, and eventually graduated with high honors. The next year, I had my twins.
I continued running my business, so my college dreams were put on the shelf for a while. But again, it all ties back to my upbringing. It’s where I came from. It’s part of my story and who I am.
To finish that story, my twins graduated from high school two years ago. They’re now 20, and I had it on my bucket list to go back to college. I did, and my goal was to graduate by the time I turned 50. I’m proud to say I just finished my last class — statistics. Oh my goodness, I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.
But I did it. I’ll be graduating and walking the stage in December. It really feels like everything has come full circle — from my childhood to now. That’s the abbreviated version.
Yitzi: Wonderful. Well, first of all, congratulations. It’s a wonderful story. It certainly takes a lot of bravery and gumption. A lot of people would love to do something like that, but they don’t because they’re afraid of what people think.
Jennifer: Right. I just threw caution to the wind. I didn’t care. I’m like, I’m not doing this for anyone else. I’m doing it for me, because it’s something I started. I start things, and I finish them. I see them through.
That’s a quality of mine that goes back to integrity — something I learned early on from my parents, who worked really hard on that farm. There were times they had to volunteer at our church for hours just to earn food from the food bank for our family, because we couldn’t afford it. And we grew up on a farm.
It was tough, especially with six kids. So I learned that work ethic and sense of responsibility early on.
Interestingly, to this day, I’m now an usher at my church. My father passed away last year, and being involved in that way — it just feels good.
Yitzi: I’m sorry about your father.
Jennifer: Yes, it’s tough, but we all meet that moment at some point.
Yitzi: It’s true. So tell us the next chapter. Tell us about your business — how that started.
Jennifer: Sure. My husband and I got married in 2001, and after I planned our entire wedding, I thought, “This is easy. I could be a wedding planner.” Well, it’s not easy, let me tell you, but it came naturally to me.
Throughout my life, I always felt like I needed a degree or some kind of plaque on the wall — something to validate me, to put that stamp of approval and say, “This is who you are.” So I took classes to become a wedding and event planner, got certified, and started my own business out of my house.
A few months in, I was planning a lot of weddings and getting a steady stream of clients. Like any entrepreneur, I started noticing holes in the market and wanted to fill them. I saw that nobody was providing chair covers at a reasonable price — those covers that make everything look uniform and elegant. So I started offering that.
At this point, I was still working out of my house. Then I realized no one was doing the beautiful ceiling draping for events either, so I figured that out too. I didn’t learn from anyone — I just pieced it together myself.
Soon, my husband said, “I can’t even park in the garage. You can’t keep doing this here.” I was planning weddings, managing the chair covers, washing them in our home washer and dryer, and clients were coming to the house to pick things up.
Eventually, we bought a building on Main Street in a town in Minnesota. It was an old house, and I had a lightbulb moment: “I can sell bridal gowns, bridesmaids’ dresses, and rent tuxes too.” So of course, I did that.
I ran that business for about 12 years. Then we moved to Florida. It was during a market downturn, and I ran the business absentee for a year and a half while we were in Florida and then we sold it..
While in Florida, I had an idea for my current business: True Fashionistas, which is now the largest lifestyle resale and consignment store in Florida. When I say lifestyle, I mean furniture, home décor, clothing for men and women, accessories, shoes, bags — all of it.
I started it with a business partner, because I still owned the business in Minnesota and didn’t have the funds to start something new on my own. My neighbor and I — who were friends — decided to go into it together. My grandmother, who taught me how to garage sale, inspired the whole idea. We’d go out on Saturday mornings, because we didn’t have money, and that was how we got “new to you” clothes. She’d tailor things to fit me, jazz them up. So this business was kind of an homage to her. I’ve always loved thrifting.
Two months in, I got a knock on my door at 10 p.m. She said, “I don’t want to do this anymore. I want out.” No real explanation. I didn’t understand. One thing led to another — we cashed out my husband’s 401(k), which was everything we had, and we bought the business outright so we could keep going.
Literally the next day, she signed a lease 10 stores down from us in the same plaza. She took all my employees except one and opened a store with the exact same concept.
Yeah. That was rough. But I always say this: things happen for you, not to you. At the time, I didn’t see it. I was freaked out. I thought it was the end of us. I thought we were out of business.
Fast forward about 15 years — we’re thriving. We’re the largest in Florida. And honestly, we wouldn’t be where we are if that hadn’t happened.
I’ve learned to embrace those bumps. Maybe not immediately — that’s just being real — but eventually I look back and think, “That taught me something.”
Now, I try to reframe everything that comes at me. I ask, “What is this trying to teach me? What’s the lesson I’m supposed to learn right now?” It helps turn frustration, anger, or anxiety into something productive.
Yitzi: You probably have some amazing stories from the course of your career. Can you share with the readers one or two stories that stand out in your mind from your professional life?
Jennifer: Definitely. The first big lesson was really about the business partner who did me wrong. What I took from that was: trust, but verify. That phrase has come up a lot in my life. I’ll share another story about that in a second. But that situation taught me to look for the lesson in every challenge. It’s been a consistent theme in my life — things are happening for you, not to you.
Another story that really stands out involved someone trying to sell us a Birkin bag — an Hermès Birkin. He wanted cash, and the story was that his aunt had been on the waiting list here in town but couldn’t get one, so she went to Paris and somehow managed to buy the bag there. Now, he had it and needed to sell it. He said, “Pay me nine grand, and it’s yours.”
I had a friend who worked at Hermès at the time, so the day before he was supposed to bring it in, I took pictures of the bag — the date stamp, details, everything. The next day, he brought it back, and I had my friend look at it in my office. She examined it and said everything checked out — until she got to the lock. That’s when she said, “Oh no. This is fake. It’s delaminating. Palladium doesn’t delaminate.”
So I walked back out with the bag, and it turned into a scene. He dropped to his knees, yelling, “This can’t be! This can’t be!” I took him to the back with a few others present, and he literally collapsed on the floor and accused me of switching out the bag, saying, “You gave me a fake one that looks exactly like mine!”
I said, “No, I didn’t. We have cameras everywhere. Would you like me to call the police?” He said yes. So I did.
As he walked toward the front door, the police were already there. They asked what was going on, and I said, “Officer, let me show you the photos on my phone.” That saved me. I had pictures of the exact same bag he brought in the day before, and it clearly showed the same serial numbers..
The police looked at him and said, “Dude, if you really think that bag is real, you were taken by whoever sold it to you.”
We have so many wild stories like that. But on a more positive note, what’s really special is watching our customers and their families grow up. We’ve been in business for 15 years, and we’ve seen kids who were in high school when we opened now married — and they’re still shopping with us. That’s the coolest thing.
I really love what I do. I love fashion, but more importantly, I love working with our customers and making those connections. It’s made me more deeply connected to my community.
At the end of the day, all anyone really wants is connection. And that’s what we provide. We’ve had people come in after losing a spouse or even a child, just wanting to be in our space. We’ve created a warm, inviting environment where they can just be. People wander our store for hours, and it’s their safe space. We’re providing that for the community, and that means everything.
Yitzi: I recently interviewed one of the principals at Goodwill, and my wife’s favorite stores are thrift stores. it’s just become clear to me how big this movement has become. Thrifting and buying secondhand clothing — it’s trendy now, and it’s really popular. So from your perspective as an insider, why do you think it’s become so popular? And what are some of the benefits?
Jennifer: There are so many, and I’m really passionate about this topic. First, you’re saving money. But it goes beyond that — it’s multi-layered. You can save money, you can make money, and you can help protect the environment. You get all of that just by shopping resale, which to me is mind-blowing.
If you think about it, there are still a lot of fast fashion retailers out there, but thankfully that’s starting to decline as people move away from them. Think about how much water it takes to make just one pair of jeans, or the labor involved — especially in countries where workers are paid pennies a day. And then the clothes fall apart after one wash.
When you shop resale, you’re buying something that someone else already purchased, so you’re not contributing to that waste. You’re not increasing your carbon footprint. You’re helping the environment and your wallet. It’s a win-win.
And here’s another benefit: when you go shopping at the mall or various retail stores, you might have to go to five different places to find all the brands and styles you like. But with resale, it’s all in one store. Our customers have shopped all over the world, so we get one-of-a-kind items that you won’t find anywhere else — at up to 90% off retail. Who can argue with that?
It’s really the younger generation that’s embraced this movement. They’ve grown up with it. People like me have taught our kids that this is not only acceptable, it’s smart. When we first started the business 15 years ago, people still had this image of consignment and resale being dingy, dusty, and smelly. That is not the case anymore.
If you walked into our store, you’d never guess it was resale. People come in every day and say, “How do you have so many different things?” or “Wait, this is resale?” And I say, “It’s in our name!” Presentation matters, and we take a lot of pride in how we present the store.
There are so many benefits, and the resale market has actually grown faster than the traditional retail market. It’s become bigger than regular retail.
Yitzi: Is the economy of resale actually bigger than retail?
Jennifer: It is, absolutely. And there’s another huge topic: tariffs. I’ve been doing a lot of interviews lately on TV and in print about how tariffs are impacting retail — but not resale. Our industry is insulated from that because our supply comes directly from people like you, walking through our doors every day. We’re not importing from other countries, so we’re not dealing with those tariffs.
That makes resale not only a sustainable environmental choice, but also a sustainable financial choice. It’s something people can stick with for the long haul.
Yitzi: That’s great. I love the term “resale” instead of “retail.” It’s such a smart word — brilliant. I guess consignment or secondhand is starting to sound a bit outdated.
Jennifer: Exactly, it is.
Yitzi: I love that. Beautiful. So, we wanted to talk about second chapters. You have an amazing first chapter. How could you top that with a second chapter?
Jennifer: Graduating from college was part of my second chapter. I kind of got ahead of myself, but I went back to school and I’m graduating from that. I’ve written a book. So my second chapter really started a few years ago, right before I turned 50. Two years ago, I wrote a book, Grace and Grit: Becoming a Confident Entrepreneur. It’s where I combine the idea of core values and your business — and it doesn’t have to be just for business, but also core values in your life. I weave in stories from my own life to set those examples, to model that for my reader so they can grasp what this idea of core values really is.
So, really, the second chapter of my life is finishing my education, writing my book, hosting the fourth season of my podcast, The Confident Entrepreneur. I’m now coaching, I’m speaking all over the country as a professional speaker on business topics, as well as resilience and the idea that you can do hard things. I think my second chapter is really about being visible, being seen, being vulnerable, and showing other people that they can do this.
It might seem like you’re in the valley of darkness right now, but you’re going to come out of it. Maybe that’s a bit of the teacher in me — and I’m not technically a teacher — but I feel like I have a story to tell.
Yitzi: Amazing. Could you share with us the most interesting story that’s occurred since you began this new chapter, this new direction?
Jennifer: I think the most amazing stories are the ones where people come out of their own darkness and say, “Oh my gosh, your story resonated with me.”
One that really brings me to my knees is a woman who stood outside the door of my store. She was really nervous to come in, really nervous to have a conversation. She had found my information on the website of a charity I’m involved in regarding sexual assault. She picked up the phone, actually got me on the line, and said, “Do you have a second? I really want to talk.”
She came into the store, and we met privately in my office. I had no idea what was coming. She said, “I read your story, and I thought things like sexual assault only happened to a certain kind of person. But you’re a successful business owner, you have a book, a podcast, you do all these things, and you’re not ashamed of what happened to you. I have to tell my story to someone.”
And it didn’t happen to her just once or twice. It happened to her three times. She fled to Florida from another state to escape an abusive husband. She said, “The only reason I found the courage to talk about it is because you told your story.”
It turns out she was terminally ill, and she wanted help. She actually started getting counseling after that, and I think she’s doing better. It’s interesting how our minds can also help heal our bodies.
That’s probably the most profound story that’s come out of my second chapter.
Yitzi: This is our signature question. You’ve been blessed with a lot of success, and you must have learned a lot from your experiences. Can you share five things you’ve learned over the course of your career that you wish you knew when you first started — when you first opened that store? Five things that would have been really helpful to know back then?
Jennifer:
- I would say the first one is probably to surround yourself with the right people. I call it my personal board of directors. That includes people you pay, like your accountant and your attorney, and also mentors. When you surround yourself with the right people, it helps you find the right answers.
- The second thing — I’ll go back to this — is that things in life and business happen for you, not to you. If you take enough time to be still with that thought, you’ll find the lesson in it.
- Speaking of taking time to be still, “pink space” is something I’ve coined. It’s a term I use in my book. Taking pink space builds on the idea of things happening for you. It’s about giving yourself a moment to pause, whether you’re in an argument, in the middle of a crisis, or in your most joyful moment. Take a moment to sit in what I call your pink space and just be. What’s happening around you? What do you hear? What do you smell? Relish in it. There’s probably a lesson there, but you have to be quiet enough to hear it.
- Number four is to embrace being humble. I know that’s more of a concept than a lesson, but it’s important. There was a book — I think it was by Kyle McDowell — called Begin with We, and he talked about the idea of standing shoulder to shoulder with someone, whether it’s an employee or an associate. When things happen, you fall together. It’s the idea that you shouldn’t ask someone to do something you’re not willing to do yourself. It ties into your values, your integrity, and who you are. If you’re humble enough to walk side by side with someone, you’re willing to give everything for your team.
- And the final one is to embrace your faith. That also connects to knowing that you’re not in control. You’re not in the driver’s seat, and it’s not about you. I don’t care what your religion is or who you believe in — there’s always a higher power steering you. Step back into that pink space and listen. When you have faith, you’re letting go. You’re saying, “This isn’t up to me.” I wish someone had said that to me at the very beginning, because when you’re not in a space of complete faith or humility, you always feel like you’re fighting tooth and nail. You’re fighting something you can never quite overcome. But if you just let go and say, “All right, I don’t have this,” it’s like that Carrie Underwood song — Jesus, Take the Wheel. You’re saying, “I don’t have control. Steer me in the right direction.”
If someone had explained those five things to me early on, I think it would have changed a lot of my path. But then again, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I wouldn’t have those stories, those life lessons I now get to teach others — whether in a book or on a stage. I wouldn’t have the lived experiences that shaped me.
Yitzi: Jennifer, because of your amazing work and the platforms you’ve built, you’re a person of enormous influence. If you could put out and spread an idea or inspire a movement that would bring the most good to the most people, what would that be?
Jennifer: Oh goodness. Gosh, that’s a hard one. I feel like it’s really the top five all rolled into one — the questions I just answered. But I think it all boils down to knowing who you are. You have to be so solid in who you are as a person and what your values are that nothing can shake that. If you know your core values and you know who you are inside, that’s ultimately what’s going to steer your ship. It’s what makes you unstoppable in any endeavor. But first, you have to know what’s in your heart.
Yitzi: How can our readers continue to follow your work? How can they connect with your stories, listen to your podcast, buy your book? How can they support you in any way?
Jennifer: My website is jenniferannjohnson.com. You can find me on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram under Jennifer Ann Johnson. My business is truefashionistas.com — that’s the website. The handle is True Fashionistas Resale on Facebook and Instagram. My speaking business and podcast are under Jennifer Ann Johnson as well. The podcast is called The Confident Entrepreneur, and you can find it anywhere you get your podcasts. My book is available on Amazon and it’s called Grace and Grit: Becoming a Confident Entrepreneur.
Yitzi: Jennifer, you’re amazing. It’s been such a delight to get to know you. I wish you continued success, good health, and blessings, and I hope we can do this again next year.
Jennifer: Absolutely.
Jennifer Ann Johnson on Turning Setbacks Into Strategy, Building Florida’s Largest Resale Brand and… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.