JOJO

Quitting my job 2 years ago to start an unreasonable project with a friend was certainly the best decision of my life. 

For me, that person is Jojo.

It has been such an experience. It opened my eyes/brain. 

After our decision to launch Jojo Project it took us exactly 9 months to get everything ready and the first 1.500 shoes in our garage. After what it has been a bumpy and amazing road till our recent decision to stop being an eco-friendly shoe brand. 

We encountered a rapid success first. Got big problems on the production side then. Moved production to Asia to keep Jojo alive finally. Had terrible legal issues along the road. Grow internationally with retailers in 8 countries this summer. Sold more than 1.000 pairs online since we started. Got invited in great conferences and gave as many talks to students as we could to inspire. And we finally sold most of the 5.000 pairs we ordered for this summer 2011. 

More importantly, we planted almost 2.000 trees and gave access to drinkable water to more than 2.000 people in Africa. For us, those numbers are big. For sure it’s nothing on a global scale but it’s big for 2 young & naive kids from Brussels. 

All this has been possible thanks to all the people that helped us. We could never thanks them enough for all their help, time & support.  

Specials thanks to our Brothers & sisters, girlfriends, photographs, web developer, illustrators, sales, friends, barman, creatives, business partners, customers, students, interns, etc. 

And of course, to everyone who talked about Jojo, in a good or a bad way. Because we know that Jojo Project is not perfect. There are many points to be improved. As we always said, we are trying to improve it everyday but for sure we will never be perfect. However, we have to admit that there were strong contradictions in our project (linked with the production of the shoes) that certainly helped us to take the decision to stop the shoes. 

Anyway, from the deepest of myself I would like to thank you all. You made this adventure possible. 

As we love to be transparent and that many people asked us the question: if you want to know if we are rich now, the answer is No and Yes. 

“No” - we still haven’t paid us a salary in the past 2 years. However, we just passed the break-even point a couple of weeks ago. Which is great news as it gives us room to invest in the “new” Jojo. 

“Yes” - Very rich. We met so many great people that helped us, broaden or horizon, gave us courage, opened our eyes, relied on us,… Since I started Jojo Project I clearly shifted from a destination Happiness to a journey Happiness philosophy. Meaning that while I was working in Finance I was getting happy by projecting myself in the future and what I would achieve. But since I started Jojo I am now enjoying every bit of life that makes my “journey” so unpredictable and so unique. I sometimes feels lonely and sometimes full of energy but I always feel happy as I am doing what I love most: Building meaningful things and trying hard to make it work. It’s not easy everyday but it’s worth every painful moments. And difficulties are certainly not over… It has been a bumpy road with big successes but also with failures. And as we always say, we learn much more from our mistakes. I confirm. And I learnt a lot with Jojo.

Deciding to stop the shoes hasn’t been a easy decision. Many people believe we are crazy but we are doing what we believe is the best for Jojo Project & its future. It’s true that we dedicated so much time to build and grow Jojo based on 1 product (shoe) and that stopping it means that Jojo is loosing part of itself. But we believe we build something bigger than that. Something meaningful, with values & a bit of craziness. And to be honest, we have been much more passionated about the ecological projects that we support and having our own brand than designing new shoes every 6 months. It’s a shame for a shoe brand, we know. It’s one of my first mistake, I miswrote my job description.  

But no complains. 

If I could, I would re-do it again. 

To conclude, from every set back there is an opportunity. We couldn’t give up. We had to see what we achieved, what we built. Having fans, followers & a community means that people trusted us & relied on us to deliver what we promised. So, for them and for ourselves we finally managed to get an AMAZING Plan B for Jojo. And I have to admit that I am very excited with the NEW version of Jojo. It’s closer to what we are passionate about and it’s a new challenge. Count on us to do everything to make it a success. 

Thank you, 

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Mat