by Jordana: Customizing the World Her Way

It’s (almost) 2023, and we’re done working at jobs that don’t bring us joy. We understand that everyone needs to start somewhere, but who says that your passion project can’t become your full time gig? For Jordana Schrager, artist and founder of by Jordana, the start of her career can be traced back to a night in high school where she was stuck at home after being grounded and decided to doodle on a pair of shoes to pass the time. 

Innocent enough, right? Plenty of people like to draw. But when she wore them to school the next day, lightning struck. Her classmates were clamoring to get a pair and by Jordana was born. From that moment on, Jordana’s hobby had turned into a business. By the time she was in college, she was raking in custom orders and even created a pair of sneakers for Miley Cyrus to wear at the VMAS.

I was enjoying creating but I never thought that this would be my full time job. After I graduated college, I decided to continue doing what I was doing, and everyone around me saw and supported me on that journey. It inspired and motivated me to keep working at it.” 

Having the support of her community fueled Jordana to continue with her art after college full time. Today, Jordana has grown her successful business to include customized accessories, apparel and event decor, but the best part for her is still bringing an idea to life through her artwork. What started in high school as a hobby catapulted Jordana to a career that is colorful and hectic, but brings her true joy; sharing her art with the world and creating pieces that speak to the people that she's designing for. It’s not every day that your passion project becomes your career, but Jordana’s story poses the question– why can’t that be the norm? 

Getting Inspired

Living in New York City keeps Jordana inspired. When she’s out and about in the city, she takes in the energy and looks around to see what people are wearing — whether it's the latest trends or if there's a classic shoe that everyone's into. 

Inspiration for Jordana comes from inside her home too. Your space is where you spend the majority of your time, so you want to make sure that it is representative of you and your interior aspirations.

Design Tips by Jordana

For Jordana, the creative process begins at home, so it’s critical that her workspace makes her feel at ease, but also enables her to maximize creativity. Given that, when designing your space, what is most important to Jordana: make sure your space feels like you. “If you have a certain vibe or a certain style, it's nice for your space to reflect that style and feel like yourself,” she said. 

Next, make sure you’re showing off your creations– you worked hard, you earned it. She told us she thinks it's really important for art to be accessible for everyone to display because it’s an easy way to showcase your personality in your space. Jordana uses art as a way to explore a persons’ characteristics and translate that into a visual representation. (P.S. If you need some help on how to show off your creations, TilePix.com is a great place to start ;) 

Lastly, Jordana gets that our moods and lives are constantly changing (and she thinks that’s a good thing). She told us she gets inspired to customize from using what she has in the moment to make her space her own.

When you take a chance and open yourself up to creating, you'd be surprised by the kinds of things you're able to achieve and the people you're able to reach,” she said. “Creating art can open up a world of unimaginable possibilities.” 

Don’t stress about the artistic process, just start by capturing the world as you see it. If you were waiting for the perfect moment to begin creating, consider this your sign to get started customizing your art. Jordana believes that the key to being creative is providing yourself with enough time to enjoy the process and treat it as a fun hobby, like she did. You never know what could happen. 

Check out our full convo with Jordana!