Dressing without limits
New boutique inspires confidence at any age
After a successful two weeks following the launch of her business, “I am so excited for what’s ahead with Mimi JAX Collection,” she said.
“I just launched my website April 3,” Jackson added. “I’m completely online. I’m offering women’s apparel.”
With her young spirit, “I love to dress, maybe, in a way that makes me feel younger,” she said. “I don’t ever want to be defined by my age, and I want to inspire other women to do that.
“I want them to be confident, to choose different clothing styles than what they’ve worn before,” Jackson added. “So, while I obviously run in circles of women of my same age, my boutique is geared to women of 18 to 75.
“My husband’s grandmother — she is 80 — she bought a pair of jeans from me,” she said. “Anybody can shop it, and that’s kind of my goal is not to be defined by an age,” she said. “If you like it; you can wear it.”
She describes the apparel as everyday wear with which one can mix and match pieces with items that are already in the customers’ closets.
On Jackson’s social media sites, she shows how they can be combined to make more than one outfit.
“That’s probably one of my personal things to do in my own closet,” she said. “That’s to pick something out and wear it completely different from the last time I wore it.
“I know that’s not what everyone likes to do. That’s why I’m doing it for them.”
Among the brands she carries are Eesom and Entro, Umgee and Illa Illa.
Besides the merchandise, another benefit to customers is local pickup.
To order, people can visit her website, www.mimijax.com or follow her on Facebook and Instagram at Mimi JAX Collections.
If people are unsure about the size or styling it, they can reach out to Jackson through social media channels and her email at shopmimijax@gmail.com
“One of the things I’m proud of is I did this [launching the business] all by myself,” she said. “I’m so hopeful to grow it to something bigger than I can even imagine.”
Previously, Jackson was in the social work field. After graduating from the University of Tennessee and then earning her master’s degree in social work, she was a school social worker for 10 years.
Then, she and her husband moved from Tennessee to Birmingham, Alabama, where he had a job opportunity.
“I stayed home with my two boys,” Jackson said. “It wasn’t beneficial for me to work.”
However, the Jacksons returned to Knoxville in 2020, and she started filling in with the social work department in Knox County Schools.
“I ended up going back to work two years ago in the role of mental health counselor for kids with [Individual Education Plans] in the school system for kids who need extra help and support in the classroom,” Jackson said.
“But my job is ending [in May, when school lets out],” she added. “We don’t have the funding.”
Still, “this online boutique has been a dream of mine for some years, and it just feels like everything has fallen into place for me to do it now,” Jackson said.
“I really wanted to start this [business] two years ago [when she had not gone back to work and was looking for her ‘next thing’],” she said. “It just felt like it wasn’t the right time.”
But in October 2024, the Jacksons found their home in Concord Hills which had space to launch the business.
While she is concerned about leaving the mental health world while there is such a need and she has a gift of helping others, Jackson said, “I’m excited to help women in totally different way.”
