JANAE PETTIT

janae grew up in the South, mainly in Louisiana and Tennessee. Some of her earliest memories are learning to sew and craft. Her mom turned her loose on the sewing machine at age 7, and it didn’t take long for her bed to be covered in tiny decorative pillows of all shapes and sizes. In high school, Janae turned to making her own gowns and jewelry for formal events and created costumes for theater performances at her high school. At some point, she was working on a complicated idea for a dress to wear to an upcoming dance, and when she asked for help her mom replied, “You know more about sewing than I do now! I don’t know how to do this, but I bet you can figure it out.” That became Janae’s mantra for life–”I don’t know how to do this, but I can figure it out.” 

Janae attended BYU where she changed her major 9 times before discovering the Industrial Design program. It utilized all of her creative abilities and combined them with her knack for problem-solving. She had finally found the creative profession she’d always wanted and never knew existed! 

Janae worked briefly as an industrial designer for an electronics company and quickly realized fabric goods (or “soft goods” as termed in the industry) were where she would flourish. She has designed couches, chairs, home decor, mattresses, pillows, bedding, bags, and more. Most recently, Janae has thrived in leadership positions where she provides coaching and guidance for team members, then gets out of their way so they can blossom into incredible designers. She loves to teach sewing and design, and she gets comically excited when asked about industrial knitting machines or designing for manufacturability.