Jess Tran
Fashion, sustainability and relatable branding are the three underpinnings of all that Jess Tran pursues. The Sydney born entrepreneur popped up during our Instagram sleuthing a few weeks back and made us stop and ask ourselves, ‘who is she?’ For starters, she’s the founder of Ghost Vintage and Second Life Marketplace, two vintage shopping experiences that aim to eradicate the often insular and size limiting characteristics that come with shopping in vintage stores. She’s also working on launching a brand marketing consultancy for purpose-driven and POC-founded brands.
Growing up in a refugee household, creativity wasn’t an attribute that Tran felt was accessible or prioritized. This credence led to Tran to develop limiting beliefs about her own creative capabilities. In order to conquer her fears and reframe maladaptive thinking patterns, Tran set out to rewrite her own narrative—and her track record show’s that she’s been quite successful in the process!
Jess Tran is a bold self-starter, a candid and heartfelt presence, and a hella talented photographer—all of which and so much more make her so damn Dandy.
It feels like we're in this weird waiting pattern on so many levels. How are you doing mentally?
Honestly, I'm okay. That wasn't the answer a few months ago, but things change so fast and all of a sudden you're out of a fog of depression looking in the rearview mirror and marveling at the difference a few months makes. I'm in a more optimistic, engaged frame of mind now than the rest of this year, but I know like everything, that's subject to change. So I'm trying to be present in this moment while it lasts and building up my reserves of resilience for when things inevitably fall apart again.
How are you feeling about the upcoming election?
I don't know how to feel about the upcoming election. Given the misleading polls this time 4 years ago that indicated Hillary as a shoe-in for president, the only thing I'm certain about is that everything is uncertain and anything could happen. I'm a little concerned around voter suppression and militias showing up to incite violence, and the incredibly anxiety-inducing potential future where Trump wins and then refuses to concede.
We know you grew up in Sydney. What brought you to the states and what were some of the most standout differences to you culturally between here and Australia?
Love did! I met my now partner of seven years at a music festival a month before he was slated to move to New York. We did long distance for 4 months and then I took the leap and flew to NYC to be with him. I'd always wanted to leave Australia, so it felt like being at the right place at the right time with the naivety and adventure of being 20 years old and knowing literally nothing about anything.
The main cultural differences lies in the work culture. Australians understand and respect work-life balance in a way that's way more normalized. 20 days of vacation (and being able to take them at once rather than only in 2-3 day blocks) is the norm in Australia. The other difference is the lack of investment and accessibility in social services like healthcare and education. Australians are incredibly lucky to have universal health care and a lot of services for low-income families, which was my family. I've always thought that my family would have fared very differently if we happened to have immigrated here after the Vietnam War rather than Australia.
You hold down a few different gigs in addition to Ghost Vintage. What's your current work day like?
At the moment I'm about to launch a brand marketing consultancy for brands with purpose, or led by POC. That takes up most of my time, and the rest of the day is with my actual dog, working on Ghost Vintage and working on a pivot for Second Life Marketplace, a IRL vintage and secondhand shopping event series I run with Natasha from The Consistency Project.
How did you get started with Ghost Vintage? Where do you source?
A few years ago I had a crisis of creativity. Growing up in a refugee household, creativity wasn't a valid pathway for success or career, and I think there was a block for me in considering myself as a creative. The only creatives I saw were white, wealthy people who were traditional creatives; artists, photographers, painters. I couldn't see myself as one.
I did a lot of brainstorming and realized that I had been both thrifting and shooting on film since I was 13, and had cultivated those hobbies since that moment. I challenged myself to re-write the narrative of what it means to be a creative and started Ghost Vintage as a way to explore other women's relationships with 'side hustles' or 'passion projects' while maintaining a full time job, and the tension between creativity, profit and survival. Since then it's become half an editorial project (I interview and shoot women with 9-5 jobs with passion projects on the side, and they style Ghost Vintage pieces in their closet) and traditional online vintage store with the occasional IRL pop-up. Before the pandemic I sourced a bunch from Europe when I was on vacation, but since then I've been on eBay and Poshmark a lot!
Tell us a bit about Second Life Marketplace:
Second Life Marketplace is a vintage and secondhand shopping event series I created with Natasha from The Consistency Project. I had admired her shop, and reached out to her originally intending to ask her if she'd be interested in merging our shops and working together. We had a really incredible conversation that ended up with us both realizing we had wanted to do some sort of community market/event where you could buy vintage in a fun and approachable way, where there was size and race diversity. Vintage tends to be a very white and colonialized industry, and a lot of the shopping events that exist are really expensive and tend to shut out most consumers. We wanted to change that, and it became an event with the closets of influencers and the best and most diverse range of vintage stores from NYC.
Since the pandemic, we hosted an online version of a market with clothes from the closet of influencers and donated pieces from vintage stores to raise money for undocumented immigrants affected by COVID-19. We're now working on a new reiteration of the company with the inability to run IRL events.
Do you mostly shop sustainably? What are some sad facts you've learned about the fashion industry?
Yes! Most of my clothing, furniture and shoes are second-hand. I even buy appliances and plants second-hand! There are so many sad facts, but thinking of the human labor exploitation and the needless resource plundering are two of the worst aspects about the fashion industry, as well as the endless appetite for consumption and excess that it encourages. One stat that stuck out to me was that an average consumer throws away 70 pounds of clothing per year. That just feels so sad and unnecessary.
What's your exercise routine? Do you eat relatively healthy?
I'm currently doing Thea Hughe's 6ft Training Program, which is a remote 4-5 day/week strength training program. I met Thea at SESSION in Williamsburg and loved how much of a badass she is. The program keeps me pretty fit, and I try to maximize vegetables and whole foods in my diet, but I won't hold on too tight if I indulge more often than I should.
What are your five essential products?
Currently, I'm enjoying and use:
Cocokind's My Matcha Stick. It's basically a portable moisturizer in stick form that I've been putting on my eyelids, lips, dry spots and all over the place as the weather has been changing.
Laura Mercier Secret Concealer + Tinted Moisturizer. Have been using both since high school.
I have very bleached hair, and love Cristophe Robin's Back To Your Baby Blonde deep conditioner, which doesn't strip my hair of moisture but also maintains my blonde.
Circumference NYC's new moisturizer made from the waste byproduct produced in wine as part of their Waste-Not Initiative.
Seed Synbiotics. Single best thing to happen to my gut health.
How has your relationship with your body evolved over time? We all have our phases, especially as women. Where would you say you're at now?
Oh 100% Who hasn't? I feel like this has been an endlessly evolving relationship since I was aware of my body as a sexual object at age 13 or so. I've been powerlifting since I was 16, and I've had a lot of intense and toxic moments with my exercise regime. My form of body dysmorphia involved how much muscle I had, how big my squat was. I lost my period for a few years from the combo of going way too hard at life and with weightlifting, and have only recently got it back after working at it pretty seriously. I developed chronic guttate psoriasis all over my body a few years ago, and I get flare-ups every month, which was a really long journey to acceptance. I think my relationship with my body now is so much more concerned with how it functions and how balanced it feels, which feels so much more healthy than one of deprivation and shame.
You’ve recently joined a women’s group. How did you go about finding it and how many women talk together?
My women's group is six incredible women coming together once a week on Mondays to dive into feelings work together. We essentially gather every single week and help each other grow, adapt and be present with our feelings. It's one of the most intimate ongoing structures I've had in my life outside of therapy, and immensely helpful. It feels like letting out a big sigh after a long day. I was invited to the group by one of my best friends Levina Li, but anyone can start one!
Something you love about yourself:
My resilience and adaptability, and my love for nature and joy. I'm friends with so many different types of people and have been in so many random situations, that at this point I trust myself to be able to preserve and push past challenges. I'm someone who actually enjoys challenges and thinks that the shadow of life is necessary to really see how bright it can be.
One of the biggest insecurities you've worked to overcome:
That I'm not good enough. It's still something I'm working on overcoming, I'm sure it'll be a life-long journey.
In a past-life, you were probably a:
Trapeze artist or dog trainer.
Your vices:
Vintage shopping/thrifting, occasionally hitting a Juul, exercise.