Jessie James Decker Talks New Retail Store, Forthcoming Music

Learn all about Decker's new brick-and-mortar store!

Written by Alison Abbey
Jessie James Decker Talks New Retail Store, Forthcoming Music
Jessie James Decker at her new Nashville boutique. Photo by Nicole Gerulat.

Jessie James Decker is a true renaissance woman. The singer, songwriter, TV personality, fashion designer, beauty and lifestyle influencer/entrepreneur and New York Times best-selling author is now adding shopkeeper to her list of accolades with the opening of her new Nashville boutique Kittenish. The store–an extension of her chic online boutique of the same name–is a brick and mortar ode to all things girlie and glam.

The day of the shop’s opening, Decker–who is also in the midst of recording new music and about to embark on a headlining U.S. tour–chatted with Sounds Like Nashville about her lifelong love of fashion, new music and making her dreams come true.

How does it feel to open a brick and mortar store?

I’ve been keeping my eyes open for the perfect spot for so long, for just the right place, and this has just been a dream come true. It’s exciting, and I just can’t wait for girls to experience Kittenish in person. They’ve been getting it for the last four or five years online, but this is a whole other experience now.

What is the vibe of the store?

It is totally me. My brother went in for the first time yesterday, he was like, “Oh my God, this is completely you. This is an essence of you.” He couldn’t believe how much it was just totally my personality in the store. That’s what I wanted. It’s super girly, and fun, and pretty, and it’s just a teenage girl’s dream come to life all in one place.

When did your interest in fashion begin?

I’ve always wanted to be a designer and I’ve always wanted to have my own clothing line and my own store, but I will say I didn’t know that it was going to happen so fast. I was just hoping and dreaming. Selena was one of my favorite artists growing up, when I was younger, and I love that she was such an amazing performer, and singer, and artist, and she also had her own store in Corpus Christie and was a fashion designer, and I just thought, I want to do that too so I can design the clothes that I wear on stage. So I have all these sketches and notepads just from high school, when I should have been focusing in class.

Between music, your businesses, writing a book and family–how do you balance it all?

Oh my God, you know, a lot of caffeine in me, but I do my best. I have a good team around me. My husband is so incredibly helpful. He’s involved in all of my businesses now that we’ve acquired, and it’s been amazing. He’s so good at this stuff, so it’s been a lot of him helping, but I just take it day by day, and I say, “Okay, today I’m going to focus on this. Tomorrow I’m going to focus on that.” I try to balance it out as much as possible, but the good thing is I don’t get too overwhelmed. I have a pretty easygoing personality by nature, so I think that’s kind of helped me in the long run.

Does your daughter see all the things you’re doing and get inspired?

Absolutely. She thinks that anything’s possible, and I want her to feel that way because that’s what my mom made me feel. My mom made me feel like I could do anything in the whole world, and that’s what I want to instill in my children and my daughter, that anything is possible if you put the hard work into it and you can dream it, you can do it.

And on the music front, you’re releasing an EP. What can you tell us about it?

I’m very excited about that.  I’ve been wanting to do that for so long. The music is just going to be kind of where I’m at in life. I’m really proud of it. It’s a good record. I just got one of the final songs yesterday, and I think people are going to really enjoy this one. It’s sassy and fun, but there’s also some pretty deep songs on there too.

Any final thoughts for your fans and customers?

Just to come shop. Come to Nashville and come see us because it’s an experience. This is not just the store you come to buy clothes at. This is an entire experience that I wanted girls to leave going, “Oh my God, that was so much fun, and I got some cute clothes.”

Kittenish is located in Nashville at 304 11th Ave S. or you can shop Decker’s collections online.