While we may not have a brick and mortar location (yet!) Jenni Earle bandanas, leather and paper goods are still out there in the world. Our list of awesome stockists curate a collection of our products to share with their communities.
Santa Ynez General sells our bandanas alongside some truly beautiful products. The store is located in the town by the same name in Santa Barbara County, California. Pearson Turnbull is the owner of Santa Ynez and she is responsible for the incredibly creative collection of mens’ and womens’ clothing, and beautiful home goods that you can find in Santa Ynez General.
Tell us a bit about you! Who are you? What inspires you?
My name is Pearson Turnbull and I own and manage Santa Ynez General. My road to getting here has been long and winding, from working in the music industry to law school, to a career in fashion to studying landscape architecture. While I’ve been all over the map professionally, each of these careers has contributed to my success as a shop owner. This breadth of experiences has helped me to find inspiration in just about every aspect of life from the quotidian to the sublime.
While I can find inspiration via instagram or magazines, I usually am most inspired by nature. The Santa Ynez Valley is one of the most beautiful places on earth. There’s so much inspiration to be found here whether riding horseback along a ridge line or walking under the Spanish moss that grows in the old oak trees.
Tell us a bit about Santa Ynez General: when and how did this beautiful place come to be?
My husband Spencer grew up in Santa Ynez. When we were living in Los Angeles, we’d make the 2.5 hour drive to the Valley whenever we could. Every time it got harder to leave, and we would always say “this will be always be a great place to retire.” During 2017 and 2018, we both lost several close friends and family members and realized that a retirement wasn’t guaranteed. So we started mapping out a plan to move to Santa Ynez. It’s a small town of less than 5,000, so we knew that if we wanted jobs, we would have to create them. We decided to create a modern general store that offered a wide range of products you wouldn’t normally see together (from toothpaste to fireplace sets), but all special pieces that are still connected to people.
How do you choose what to stock in your store? What grounds you in those decisions?
The easiest answer to this question is: I stock what I like! There are no hard-and-fast rules about what goes into the store. We have artwork, notebooks, ceramics, furniture, and dish soap. What we care about is that our products are of the highest quality and still connected to people. To us, that means still made by human hands in small batches.
How long have you been selling Jenni Earle bandanas? How did you hear about us? What drew you to our product?
I saw Jenni Earle bandanas at my first trade show I attended in Vegas over two years ago, and I loved them immediately. The range of colors were the first thing that caught my eye, then I fell in love with designs on the bandanas and the mantras. I love finding meaning in the items I use daily.
What is your favorite thing about being an entrepreneur? What is the toughest thing?
There are so many great things about being an entrepreneur, but my favorite is that if I see something I don’t like in my company, I alone have the power to change it. That can be anything from the merchandise assortment to our social media voice to the mood we create in the store for our customers.
The hardest part is that there is always something to do and never enough time to do it. There’s really never a time when I get to be “off.”
What is something (words, a mantra, a song) that you tell yourself when things get difficult?
I’m a very visual person, so when I’m frustrated or overwhelmed or just generally annoyed, I go outside and look at the mountains. I remind myself that if these mountains can endure millions of years, then I can make it through the grievances of one day.
Do you have a favorite Jenni Eearle mantra? Why?
At the last trade show I attended (in New York just before everything shut down for COVID), I had dinner with Jenni and Kari. Jenni asked how I ended up in Santa Ynez of all places, so I told her my story. Kari immediately said, “there’s only now.” It was so fitting and summed up two years of my life in three words. And that’s how our There’s Only Now Bandana was born! Waiting on Pearson for a link to this bandana / more information. It is a bit confusing for her to mention a bandana that is not JE.
Anything else you want to share?
My path in life has never been clear, and it definitely hasn’t been linear. So for anyone who is trying to figure out what to do with their lives, I have two recommendations.
First, do EVERYTHING. As long as you’re enjoying it or learning from it, nothing is a waste of time. The cumulation of your various experiences is what will give you a unique point of view and your own voice.
Second, take serious time to think about what makes you come alive. Treat that like it is your job—to find out what makes you tick. Then pursue it. It doesn’t have to be your full time job or provide an income, but doing the thing you love will bring joy into all the other aspects and relationships of your life. So go get it!
Thank you, Pearson, for your words and support! We are so happy to have Santa Ynez General as a partner.
Be brave
Elise