Hey crew, Fenny here, founder at Confidants. We often ask our brand partners how they got started, so I thought we should share our origin story too. Here goes: 

In 2017, I was on a road trip by myself and way out of my comfort zone. Not that I wasn’t comfortable on the road, camping, exploring nature—that part I had down—but as an extrovert who thrives on connections with people, being alone was totally new for me. 

I was looking to reset after leaving a hectic job where I always had a million things to do, and a solo adventure turned out to be a powerful way to let go of expectations, find my own pace, and discover space for creativity—important aspects of life I’d lost touch with over five years of startup life. 

I felt like I was taking control of my journey for the first time in a long time, and it was a freedom that felt exultant. But as the scenery flew by, the pressure and anxiety of that freedom set in too.

I was going to miss my job—it was a place where the people were family and the experiences were one-of-a-kind—but it was time for me to find a new path.

While there I’d had a front-row seat to building an e-commerce company, and over time I uncovered my passion for discovering and supporting up-and-coming brands. I even got a taste of what it was like to build a rad women’s collection by piloting a program that ultimately planted the seed of what was next for me.  

30 days, 6,000 miles and eight states later, I was back home in the Bay Area with a plan. Women were missing a curated, trusted retail space that provided them with the essentials, from brands with integrity, for their whole lifestyle—not just the little corners of life that women get pigeonholed into when they shop. I knew what it could look like after working on it as a side project at my last job, and I had a gut feeling that if I built this, fans would come. 

It hasn’t been easy. One night, sitting in my SF apartment surrounded by the very first boxes of Confidants inventory, on the verge of feeling entirely overwhelmed, I was asking myself,

“Am I in over my head? Am I even worthy of doing this?”

But every time someone else believed in me—friends, photographers, other small business owners, and everyone else who helped me along the way—it reminded me to believe in myself. It took some time, but one day I realized I was surrounded by a community of people who believed in me, and believed in what I was doing. 

In the few years since that roadtrip, the seed of Confidants has grown into a thriving, real-life community of incredible fans, friends, customers, and brand partners, many of whom I turn to in those moments when I need support.

And that’s the bigger mission we’re taking on with Confidants—not just creating an inspiring, trusted retail space, but building a community of women who believe in each other, and believe in moving the world in the right direction. Every time I see that community in action—at our pop-ups, on social media, or through the brands we partner with—I know I’ve found my path.

Whether you join me for a few steps along the way or you’re in it for the long haul to see where that path leads, words can’t express how thankful I am to be your Confidant.