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

Hi Jessica, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Cristal and I were both born and raised in Orange County, California and met while we were attending college at the Fashion Institute of Deseign and Merchandising (F.I.D.M.). After graduating we always talked about starting our own clothing line. We talked about it for years and our vision for our brand gradually evolved. After spending time living in different states, traveling and finding our niche in our careers, it finally felt like the right time to turn our clothing line talks into reality. In 2023, we both took the jump and made the commitment to turn our vision into a reality and we officially launched DriftWood. Through coastal and neutral colors inspired by our Southern California beaches and Colorado mountains, our vision is to use recycled/ upcycled materials creating a sustainable aesthetic. We have created unique patterns and designs that can be mixed and matched, for men and women to minimize our carbon footprint and promote less is more when it comes to our clothing line.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
What sets DriftWood apart is our commitment to comfort, confidence and simplicity. Each DriftWood piece can be worn individually or together to create a clean and elevated ensemble giving everyone the confidence to dress up or dress down with our universal pieces. We want DriftWood to be your go to simplify your wardrobe with unique pieces that will allow you to go from your day to night.

Our vision is to use recycled/ upcycled materials creating a sustainable aesthetic. We have created unique patterns and designs that can be mixed and matched, for men and women to minimize our carbon footprint and promote less is more when it comes to our clothing line.

Like anything great and amazing, it has not been a smooth road for us. But at the end of the day every obstacle has been worth it! Our greatest challenge thus far has been learning to operate a business from two different states.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Since I live in Colorado and we are approaching the winter/holiday season, here is a week long itinerary:

Day 1: Head out to Glenwood Springs and visit Glenwood Hot Springs and Iron Mountain Hot Springs. Enjoy dinner at the CO. Ranch House with an overnight stay at The Hotel Colorado.
Day2: Breakfast at Daily Bread followed by shopping in town. Head back to Denver and enjoy a girls night in.
Day 3: Let the day take us by surprise, followed by dinner at Parisi and drinks at Call to Arms Christmas Bar.
Day 4: Morning snowboarding at Keystone followed by beers and lunch in the village and ending the day with a visit to the Keystone Spa
Day 5: Stroll through the Cherry Creek Holiday Market for last minute gifts and get ready to pack and head home!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
We want to give a great thank you to our friends and family for supporting our dream to become creative entrepreneurs. Our parents for putting us through college, our friends for modeling and bringing life to our products; Danielle Laird, Karla Estrada, Paige Abeyta, Cameron Buck, and the many others. Lastly thank you to Katelyn Abaya, Tess Prata, Alexis Estrada and Kristin Eleperuma for helping us showcase our journey through their amazing photography.

We would also like to give a shoutout to our printing partner, Street 2 Life Print & Embroidery Shop who prints custom garments while providing jobs and transitional employment for people coming out of homelessness, abuse, addiction, trafficking & incarceration.

Website: https://shopdriftwood.myshopify.com/

Instagram: @shop.driftwood_

Image Credits
Kristin Eleperuma

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