Nancy Gale	The Week of May 8th, 2005

Jamah

1. What’s in your wallet right now?

In my wallet right now, I have my license, credit cards, business cards, a blank check (I always like to be prepared!) cash, a typed to-do list and a list of important Jamah information such as Federal ID number, FedEx number, etc.

2. What do you wish your parents taught you about money?

I wish I had learned more about budgeting. My parents grew up during the Depression and were forced to learn about budgeting their money. They really didn’t have a choice if they wanted to put food on the table. I feel like when I was growing up and even today, we live in a time of great economic prosperity and the budgeting issue is often overlooked because of that.

3. What is your worst habit around finances?

My worst habit would be impromptu spending on everything from gifts to charity donations to personal purchases. It isn’t about spending beyond my means but rather about not making the best decisions.

4. What makes you happy?

Simplicity. I really enjoy spending time with my friends and family. It is a feeling that isn’t a tangible thing. It is about living a life that means something to me individually. It is about being content and living a simple, fearless life.

5. Personal philosophy around money?

The most important thing is to be sure that your basics are covered. The basic needs include a roof over your head and food on the table. Everyone should have savings put away for a rainy day also, but my main philosophy is enjoy life and live in the moment.

6. Where does money come from?

I think that money should always come from working really hard. Having money from hard work will make you appreciate it all the more.

7. What would you do with a million dollars?

I would pay off all of my debt and also the debt of my family and close friends. I would actually invest it first to turn it into more money so that I could host a big party and have everyone come together to organize a charitable effort for a greater cause.

8. What is your most prized possession?

My most prized possession is my mother's and father’s words of wisdom. The most profound thing that my father shared with me was to live your life with daily consciousness and laughter. I learned from my mother that there is nothing you can’t fight your way through.

9. Who is your role model?

My mother and father. My father never stopped living and nurturing his life before dying. He was very ill and up to the last day of his life, he was still planning 20-year projects and laughing and dreaming.

10. What is your greatest achievement?

My greatest achievement is making it to the 5th year of my business all the while remaining extremely close friends with my business partner, Linda Sobel. It was a really difficult period after 9/11 and the strikes but with perseverance and hard work we managed to remain friends and continue with a successful business. It can sometimes be a challenge having the added stress of relying on someone for your livelihood during rough times.

11. How did Jamah start?

Jamah started as a whim. While my partner Linda Sobel was working for a well-known Canadian company here in Los Angeles, we decided that the time had come for us to explore our own designs and passion. It was time to lift all restrictions and go on our creative journey.

12. What contributions to society do you want to make?

I would like to help guide children in a positive way with their self-esteem, confidence, independence and beliefs. To help them live their lives with a sense of adventure and curiosity. All children should be able to live a fearless life and not feel restricted.

13. If you could buy one thing right now what would it be?

I would purchase a beach house with a beautiful view of the ocean from every room. I feel like I can breathe better and feel the most at home by the sea.

14. Favorite activity that doesn’t cost a dime?

Hanging with my family and friends at the beach!

15. How do you indulge yourself?

I love to travel. I have been to amazing places including Africa and Greece. I would really love to visit Costa Rica and Thailand. I actually had a trip to Thailand planned two days before the tsunami hit. For some reason, I decided to cancel my trip 6 days before leaving. I have never cancelled a trip before. It was really a surreal feeling knowing that I would have been on Phuket when the tsunami hit the island.

Jamah co-founders Nancy Gale, a talented designer, and Linda Sobel, who was responsible for raising the profile of Canadian lifestyle brand Roots in the entertainment community, met serendipitously on Venice Beach in 1994. Sobel was looking for an apartment; Gale was rollerblading and knew of an available space. Neither were aware at the time that between them they held the keys to one of the entertainment industry’s “most gifted” merchandising companies.

Founded in Marina del Rey, California in 2000, Jamah began as an entertainment marketing merchandising company specializing in high-end cast and crew gifts, and built a client list that includes the executives and talent behind numerous films and nearly every hit TV series of the past five years. Jamah—the go-to designers of high-fashion gifts for the producers and stars of films such as “Ocean’s 12” and “Bewitched”—has established a reputation for designing bags, accessories and clothing that fuse a vibrant, colorful aesthetic with functional elegance in perhaps the toughest, most fickle market of all: the A-list entertainment crowd.

With the spring 2005 retail launch of its high-end leather goods and clothing line, Jamah has made Hollywood insider chic accessible to everyone. Fans of this hot new line already include celebrities like Billy Bob Thornton and the stars of “Desperate Housewives” and “The OC.”

---

« Previous Interview

Next Interview »

Send to a Friend:

From:

To: