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

Hi Jules, what do you attribute your success to?
Ojai. Because it’s a small community, we all know each other. We are conscious of our neighbors’ joys, challenges, passions, and aspirations. VORTEX taps into that; it celebrates existing creative projects and nudges budding ideas forward. I created VORTEX — selfishly — to give myself the chance to collaborate with and learn from some of the most talented and generous people I have ever known.

Ojai is ‘hot’ at the moment. Each weekend, folks press in through our tiny, two-lane roads seeking some kind of magic they heard about. Some will never find it despite Ojai’s undeniable beauty, innovative restaurants, and vibrant arts scene. Others come back so often, they start to become absorbed into our little cliques — they bring friends, they become friends. The latter visitor supports our livelihoods and enriches our lives. The former is just a tourist. The purpose of VORTEX is to encourage that conversion. Everything a visitor consumes has a creator behind it — and that creator has a story. That story is the magic.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.

After graduating from FIDM, I moved to Brooklyn. The change of pace was exhilarating, but the cost of living made it difficult to take risks. I wound up in real estate sales and marketing. The best thing about the job was getting to know the city neighborhood by neighborhood.

When I finally clawed my way back to Ojai, I grabbed every opportunity to get involved locally. I joined Ojai Studio Artists, I started Lunch Box Creative Agency — which worked with the Ojai Chamber of Commerce to launch ojaigifts.com. I joined a local print magazine called Ojai Quarterly as Creative Director. I found that particularly gratifying. I also accepted a full-time job at a local theatre and then found all of my deadlines hitting at once. After the OQ Winter 2020-21 release, I passed my position on to a very capable friend.

You can probably guess what comes next: The pandemic hits, the theatre doors shutter, and I am on my own again. Like everyone else, I seek out new skills. Like everyone else, I have time to consider what is important to me. Like everyone else, I look for ways to help. And I realize there is an opportunity to connect all these things together. 

Our small town teems with local media. There is the aforementioned Ojai Quarterly and its sister magazine Ojai Monthly. Ojai has one of the few remaining independent local newspapers in the country which in turn has its own quarterly magazine. There is an incredible regional arts magazine called Lum Art Zine — I could probably name at least five more publications. I decided to start VORTEX online to fully explore the potential of the internet as a medium and to complement rather than compete.

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.

Oh, there is too much. You just have to read through theojaivortex.com. But if it were *my* best friend? I would have a huge party and invite everyone I know and completely overwhelm her with a whole bunch of new friends. We would make bagels with Fran. We would go pick mulberries in Holly and Josh’s orchard. I would take her to meet Joel and Jennifer’s emu, Pecky. I would swoop up my neighbor’s cat, Mauser, and put him on her lap and take pictures of him hugging her and drooling on her. I would bring her to Chief’s Peak on Friday to see Jessica and Kate’s Bread on Sunday to see Kate. We would walk in the river bottom at sunset and we would crash a dinner at Fanny and Nico’s and we would way overstay our welcome and we would all laugh and laugh.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

All of the contributors to VORTEX are amazing. Our regulars definitely deserve a shout out: Cassandra C. Jones is an incredible writer and Marc Alt and Francine Gealer are great photographers. I couldn’t do this without them.

Website: www.theojaivortex.com

Instagram: the.ojai.vortex

Other: https://www.pinterest.com/TheOjaiVortex/

Image Credits
Photo of Jules Weissman by Deborah Lyon for Ojai Studio Artists | Photos of Ojai Artist Carmen Abelleira by Marc Alt | Photos of Carmen-Inspired fashion by Ari Becker with styling by Enid and Edgar Vintage | Bloom! / Vortex photos by Hollyflora X Smile Mountain

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