A blog by Julie.
When I started at JOY in the spring of 2015, I just considered it a low-key part time job. At some point I assumed I would get back to doing what I did before moving to Vermont. It was what I studied in college and I had always loved my career in horticulture and landscape design. I was surprised at how quickly bra-fitting made sense to me and I became a little obsessed about researching different brands, bras and industry issues. I started to see bras as plants. Each one has an environment in which it performs best. They both have a special name, for plants it’s in Latin, for bras it is a stock number and name. Just as I studied what the best setting was for Aquilegia tomentosa, I quickly learned the difference between the Marie Jo Tom 0120829 and 0120822 and which one I should bring to a particular customer. All these things answer my need for knowledge and continuing to learn. Joy has empowered me to bring products into the store that will add to our extensive selection.
All those fun facts and figures aside, the real important and meaningful part of my job happens in the fitting room. I am a staunch and passionate supporter of our extra large fitting rooms. They are at the core of what makes JOY such a remarkable place. Our fitting rooms provide room to spread out, for a stroller, a walker, a mom or a best friend, or both. There is also plenty of room for me, to make you comfortable and help normalize all of our very unique and ordinary breasts. I consider it an honor that a woman walks through our door and within a very short amount of time has trusted me to help her. I do my very best to always honor the confidence a woman places in my abilities. I will lift my shirt to show you how my bra fits, revealing my chubby belly, to help you realize how we all have areas that aren’t perfect. I tell just about every woman in those rooms to stop focusing on the little pocket of fat under her arm. It is just there and it is airbrushed out of every picture we see in magazines. I want women to leave the store feeling heard, comfortable, empowered and happy. If we don’t have what a customer needs I do my very best to try and figure out where the hole is in our inventory.
Our mission at JOY is to help women find their joy from the inside out. I believe in this mission. I know that I am a part of something very special and I am grateful to all the people who have supported us. Please continue to shop local and be a part in the fulfillment of our mission.
– Julie
Julie Isaacs is now our Shop Manager, which means she’s a bra fitter full-time along with helping us run the place in general. In addition to knowing a heck of a lot about bras and plants, she’s an avid sewer and quilter and keeps her Santa’s Village up through February.
