Meet Jani Taylor: Eastern Accents’ Trailblazing Salesperson

Jani Taylor is Eastern Accents’ expert Florida salesperson. Not only is she great at what she does, but she also has a special place in the Eastern Accents story. She is one of the few team members who has been here for over 30 years–meaning she’s seen it all in the design world. While she was in town, visiting the Chicago factory, we sat down to discuss her experience here, all the way back to the very beginning.

You’re based in Florida now–is that where you’re originally from? 

I grew up in California. My parents moved to Florida when I was in college, though. I went to college with Pam Bossert, who went on to work for Eastern Accents. We were both there with swimming scholarships! When I graduated college, Pam was working at Eastern Accents as a product designer and she said ‘why don’t you come to Chicago?’ So I lived in Chicago for about 5 years in my twenties. Then, I moved back to Florida and have been there ever since. 

How did you find your way into this field? 

I worked for [EA co-owners] Ridvan and Siw part-time when I lived in Chicago. This was around 1989. I met them through Pam –we were roommates in Lincoln Park at the time. I actually had an insurance job on Michigan Ave, but I would come work for Eastern Accents on the weekends. This was when they were in the old factory. Before the factory was here in Avondale, it was in West Loop near the old Oprah studios.     

How did you come to be the official Florida rep? 

When I moved back to Florida, Ridvan had said “if you’re available, can you come out and do this High Point show?” Then that turned into, “can you do the Dallas show?” and so forth. It was the early 90s and the way to get all of our orders was to do trade shows. We did them all over the country. After I did a couple shows, they finally said “why don’t you just do sales in Florida!” I started working full time, then, in 1992. 

What’s it like being based in Florida? Are there any big design trend differences compared to the Midwest? 

Florida is a little different because there are a lot of people that have second homes. Especially in Naples. I could go there every week and still have enough to do! There are so many interior designers and furniture stores. In the last few years, a lot of furniture stores have closed across the country, but in Florida, they’re still on every block. People come down there, especially in the winter, and then have to furnish a vacation home– or maybe they’re buying a new home. There’s so much opportunity, and there’s enough to go around for everybody. 

Being with Eastern Accents since 1992, you’ve really been able to see it grow. What was it like in the beginning? 

When I first joined, we were selling one-of-a-kind kilim pillows from Turkey. Ridvan would buy damaged rugs and repurpose them to make new pillows. These were harder to sell in Florida. They were a little bit dark and heavy, and Florida’s light and springy. So at first I was going around Florida selling these pillows–all one-of-a-kind. I still have some of these original tearsheets! 

I remember my very first big order. It was all kilim pillows. A buyer had come to see us at a trade show and wanted to put these in her furniture store. That was the very beginning. After a while, though, we started moving into standard pillows, bedding, and a lot of what you see now. 

What’s the most memorable project you’ve worked on/been a part of? 

Wow, there are so many. I remember one time we were working with Victoria’s Secret, of all places. It was a different department of Victoria’s Secret, and we did some special projects for them, a lot of pillows. I think we started working together from a trade show. In the beginning I was doing so many trade shows and working on key accounts. I would work with any big clients that came to the show. We got to know the buyer, and we had some great orders with them. These were huge orders, especially for the early days. I remember Siw even had to get involved in the production and organize everything!

There was also this place Home Expo– it was a home furnishing store, but they were owned by Home Depot. We did a lot of work with them too. This was when fax machines were big. My fax machine would go off at night, and it would just be rolls and rolls of orders! This was one of our biggest partners for a couple years. 

You’ve mentioned doing a lot of work at trade shows–tell me more about what that was like.

We were small when I started. Trade shows were so important because, at the time, there was no internet. People couldn’t look anything up, they couldn’t see the products. They had to come to trade shows. 

Now there’s a whole crew that goes, but in the beginning it was really just Ridvan and I. We used to probably do at least 20 shows a year in major cities. We were always traveling. We’d set it up, work the booth, and do the teardown. It was a lot of physical labor! 

Do you have a trade show memory that stands out? 

Ridvan was always thinking about hospitality, it’s just how he is. We were still growing and didn’t want to spend a lot of money. Still, he wanted to make food and drinks and wanted to serve everyone. We would make these little sandwiches at the show.  We’d have to go and get all of the supplies from Costco. This was before cellphones, so he would call the bank–on a payphone–to make sure we had enough in there to buy sandwich ingredients! We’d have someone help us make them in the back and then we’d serve our little turkey, cream cheese, pepper sandwiches. 

That’s such a fun story. It must be amazing to compare those early moments to now. 

It’s so crazy just to think of how much we’ve evolved and the size of the company now. You know, when I first started I think we only had 2 seamstresses. Now the factory is huge. 

From your time at all of these trade shows, do you have a favorite city or show? 

My favorite show early on was Dallas. That show was huge. There were a lot of stores, a lot of designers, and you would be busy at that show the whole time. Everyone in Texas is so nice. 

Of course, I’ve always loved High Point. It’s so fun, and it’s always busy. It’s a lot of work, but you meet so many people. In the beginning we’d be handwriting everything, writing down orders non-stop. I loved that, it was so fun. Now a lot of that has moved online, but High Point is still a great place to gather, look at swatches, feel fabrics. Textiles are a thing where you really have to come and see the color, pattern, and material. You don’t know if it's embroidered, if it's flat. You can’t really tell online. 

You know a lot about textiles–were you interested in design prior to this job, or is it all what you’ve learned through experience? 

My job is mostly just talking to people, but you do learn a lot. For instance, we sell a lot of tropical patterns in Florida. Designers can struggle with how to style tropical, and I always help with this. You know, I’m not designing it, but they get my opinion, if a fabric will look good, that kind of thing. We’re actually working on a tropical mashup bedding right now that Sujeidy [Eastern Accents designer] and I got to design together. We sent some pictures back and forth, and worked on it over the phone. It’s just because I know the customer. Tropicals can be tricky, but between me and Sujeidy we can make something good.  

What’s it like being able to connect with customers in person? 

I really prefer face-to-face connection. I much prefer to walk into a store or an interior design firm and talk to them rather than call them. When you walk in, you can really see what they’re working on, what products of ours they have. It leads to so much more conversation. 

I bet it helps to form a bond too. 

It’s the way to really get to know someone. You become friends with people. You end up talking personally with them, that’s what I love. 

Is that your favorite part of the job? 

It is, seriously. I’ve known some of these people for 30 years. I’ve worked with these people for so long, and you get to watch each other grow. 

What have you learned about EA after seeing it evolve so much? 

It’s just amazing how far we’ve come and how big we’ve gotten. Not just in bedding, but even in things like upholstered furniture. Everything we do now is on a bigger scale. Recently, I had a few people from a design firm come up from Florida to see the factory. When you go to meet with a customer, you can only tell them so much. When they actually come here and see everything–that’s impressive. 

The factory is so big, and there’s so much that goes into everything. Most people can’t believe how hands on we really are, even in the little details, like fabric covered buttons. There are so many departments: Curtain panels, upholstery. We’re even making our own sheets. We’re so big now, there are products that I didn’t even know we had. It’s amazing how much we’ve grown. It’s just so special. 

Explore Jani's favorite - tropical bedding - and more here.