An Indepth Chat about Rags to Riches: An Interview with January Jaimes

I had the pleasure of having an audience with one of Evergreen’s more well known business women. You probably know her and if you don’t, what rock have you been living under? Today I interviewed January Jaimes about her humble beginnings to her now skyrocketed wealth. I got to know her motivations, her journey, as well as some opportunities she’s offering in the future.

I asked: How would you introduce yourself to someone who has no idea what a January Jaimes is?

She replied: I’m January, I’m the owner of Marlowe Vineyard and I’ve been living in Evergreen for a while now. Usually when I say I'm January people say ‘Oh I’ve heard of you.’ and I say ‘Oh God.’ I think the vineyard is my main identity right now though.

I inquired: How would you describe your first week in Evergreen?

She answered: Thinking back to my first week, we didn’t exactly have the population we have now. Many people moved in from old cities and a lot of things were happening. I was actually EMS at the time so I was mainly doing a lot of medical work for the citizens before the medical staff could work a little more. I just remember being pulled in a lot of different directions with so many positions to fill. I would consider the first week hectic. In a good way, maybe pleasantly hectic?

I suggested: Well don’t most of the citizens probably know you from Real Estate?.

She responded: Well yes, I was in real estate in a previous city. I was working there with other people but it became a smaller team and eventually became me and another person (Ethan Vayne) and when the head there moved away, it was thrust upon me. When I moved to Evergreen, I still had a big passion for it, which I still do, but I helped found the Real Estate business here in Evergreen and sold homes to the first citizens. My fascination is sort of the same as people have with cars, I just wish I could collect houses instead.

I stated: Your presence in Real Estate really helped to shape it into the economic pillar it is today.

She returned: I don’t think I’ve done much but I was the only agent for a while in the beginning before I was able to hire other agents. I was solely responsible for moving people into their homes and getting people set in their lives. I think I was setting the foundation for my predecessors. I guess I walked so that Jason Rainbows could run.

She continued: It was bittersweet really. I was getting very burnt out at the time. It became more of a chore and less of a passion so I knew it was time to step down. But letting it go helped me to focus on my current passion which is the vineyard so like I said, bittersweet.

I queried: What made you want to run a vineyard?

She retorted: Well my parents have always rubbed elbows with some of their friends who were big vineyard people so I spent a lot of time on them while I was growing up. So I had a decent amount of knowledge and wine is something I’m interested in. I was interested to see about growing so I bought a bunch of land, planted a lot of seeds and hired a bunch of people and opened Marlowe. I guess I have my parents to thank as well as their connections since that’s where it all started.

I implored: What goes into running a vineyard?

She riposted: I think it’s a lot of employee management. Although the group of employees we have right now is very good at being self-sufficient. It also includes inventory management to make sure we aren’t overproducing things that sit on shelves and go bad and ensuring we’re not overstocked so we have space. It’s all intertwined I guess. It really is just making sure the employees are taken care of and have guidance to run the business without me being there to hold their hand.

I requested: What do you think would help expand the vineyard’s reach?

She acknowledged: We’re definitely a quieter business but we’re leaning more into catering and renting out the building. Something we’ve begun to do and hope to continue is partnering with other businesses to supply them wine. Right now we have a partnership with ‘Pizza This’ so we supply the wine for them. It makes sense for us as the wine growers of the state to produce wine and then distribute it so it’s definitely something we’re going to lean into more instead of being another ‘Hey, we’re open. Come buy your shit and leave.’’ Basically we would love to be the wine distributors for as many people as possible.

I ended: What’s next for January Jaimes?

She concluded: Hmmm. What’s next for me? That’s a good question. I haven’t really sat down to think about it yet. I’m still very focused on the vineyard and have been putting my energy and focus into it. Right now I’m happy with not being in retirement so I’m focused on making the vineyard better everyday. But one day I’ll retire and fuck off to the bahamas I’m sure.

That question concluded the interview. I believe I was definitely able to get a grasp of what it’s like for January Jaimes to run Marlowe Vineyard, as well as how it was like to run the Real Estate company for all those months. As mentioned by January, Marlowe Vineyard is partnering up with businesses so if you’re a business owner reading this, and you’re interested in the wines and wares of the vineyard. Contact January and see if you can work something out. I’ve had a lot of that wine, and it is definitely the best in town.