Name: Krystina Jackson
Business Name: Soulful Threads, 1022 Chapel Street, New Haven.
Year Business was started in New Haven: November 2020. Storefront on Chapel opened on November 15th 2023. We are a new store!
Why did you start your own business?
After graduating with my master’s in social work from UConn in 2020, I like many others lost their jobs when Covid hit. I decided to pick up some side jobs to help cover the bills and selling clothes became one of them. I got great feedback from people saying I had a great eye and its led from one opportunity to the next. I’ve always been a girl addicted to retail, so this was the perfect dream for me to work towards.
Why did you choose to start your business in New Haven?
After considering many other locations, both inside and out of the state, I chose New Haven because of its dedication to progressive change downtown. The culture is growing here, and young people are now looking here as a great place to build a life. No matter who you are, you can find your niche in New Haven. The only thing it was missing was a place for curated 90s/y2k vintage, which is the hole we have tasked ourselves with filling.
What challenges did you have to overcome in starting your business?
In December 2021, I lost my brother and only sibling to a rare cancer that took him within a year of diagnoses. Grief is by far the hardest thing i’ve dealt with. Especially being in my young adulthood. My brother was a computer programmer who helped start the makings of what is now our website. I made it my mission after he died to make Soulful a success and here we are in one of the Shops at Yale 2 years since he passed.
