Meet Heather Jude

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Heather Jude. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Heather, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

I don’t think impostor syndrome is necessarily something you get over I think it comes in waves. It definitely gets better with repetition and confidence. When I was planning the show, I felt imposter syndrome at many different points along the planning process. When I first announced the show, I absolutely felt it and thought to myself “is this something I can even do? Is it possible?”. Once I started planning the show and things started falling into place that feeling faded, but then it resurfaced when I was actually creating the collection. I really challenged myself on construction and pushed myself to try avenues that I hadn’t been necessarily super confident in in the past. Instead of giving into that feeling of not being enough or being uncertain in myself, I faced those fears head on, and I just did my research, and I made corset after corset after corset until I felt that my weakness became my strength. I think it’s important to remember that imposter syndrome is usually associated with a fear and if you back away from it because you’re scared of failing then you’re never going to get better I think in society we see failure as such a negative connotation when really it’s just redirecting us and letting us know where we need to improve. If you don’t allow yourself to fail, you’ll never allow yourself to succeed as well. If you always stay in your comfort zone and you think, “I know what I’m doing.” There’s no joy of a process of making mistakes of trial and error and pushing yourself to a whole new level. I really feel like this show was myself pushing me to a whole new level. There are times when I questioned if I could pull off this show, but I remembered that how many people believed in me and how silly it was that I wasn’t believing in myself with the same enthusiasm. It really brought me to a conclusion that nobody knows everything but everyone can learn everything. Just because you don’t know something doesn’t make you failure, it doesn’t make you an imposter. Challenge those fears head on and make your weaknesses your strengths.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

My name is Heather Jude and I am the founder and designer of Jude Canada. I’m also an award-winning fashion stylist. Beyond that I am stubborn in going after my dreams and I love learning. I studied at Simon Fraser University and earned my bachelors degree of communications and then went onto John Casablanca Institute, where I studied fashion design. After graduating, there were areas in fashion that I still wanted to explore. I ended up completing a certification at Parsons school of design for sustainability and I’m currently enrolled in an online program at Yale University that explores what it means to be a genius and we are learning about classics like Einstein, Mozart, Monet, and it’s been very eye-opening to understand that those who mimic are prodigies, but those who create are geniuses. I’ve always loved to push myself and if I can’t do something, I wanna learn how to do it. I think having this fashion show is an extension of that. For years now I’ve attended fashion shows as a guest or stylist, and I’ve seen how they’ve run and I’ve always had a vision in my head of what my show would look like. I feel like at the beginning stages of planning I had dumb down my ideas and I feel like this was in response to years of having to make my creative ideas smaller to fit a company. So once the ball got rolling on the show, I feel like those creative ideas started to expand again, and it became the show that it was. Full of so many small details. I definitely have Caitlynne Medrek to thank for that. She was an amazing Emcee at the show but also we worked so well together in planning and executing the creative direction that I was trying to achieve. I feel like from the show I learned that I have so many skills from different parts of my life that all lined up and worked in creating this. From my background as a competitive Irish dancer, I was ready for the chaos of backstage and queuing the models when to go. I was prepared to envision the whole show as a whole and make sure there was a narrative that made it entertaining. My experience as a fashion stylist allowed me to understand how to create calm in the chaos making sure everything was planned and executed. The clothes were pre-steamed, everything was hung in order of the shows schedule, the beautiful Pamela Card jewelry was laid out next to models’ photos, so everyone knew what to do. I really tried to make this show run as smoothly as possible and I think I did just that. I had so many people come up to me, saying that this was such an easy show to be a part of and that it seemed so calm for being so chaotic. I’m really going to take the show and the momentum from it and just push myself even further. I’m determined for Jude Canada to be a brand that people know and rely on. I want there to be a shift in the industry where talents, crew members, cast members, they’re all introduced and given their spotlight as well. Because as I’ve been learning in my Yale program, geniuses are one person, but there’s always a team behind them. You look at the Wright brothers who get credit for the first successful flight of an aircraft, but then there’s Leonardo da Vinci, who drew airplanes years before. Monet had Renoir and Picasso had Braque. There’s always inspiration, there’s always a team behind what we think is the final genius moment. And more often than none there’s always a woman who had been pushed aside in these great inventions and pivotal moments of history and I think it’s our turn to step into that spotlight.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I definitely think as creatives we are told to be competitive when that’s not in our nature of what we do. There’s room in this industry for all of us, but we’re told that it’s the same structure as a triangular CEO position. When looking at the greats of fashion or the greats of art, there’s room for Dior, Chanel, Monet, Degas, Picasso, and we never challenge them against each other because they’re their own voice and their own version of the industry. I feel like when we understand that our industry thrives on collaboration and teamwork and working together that’s when it flourishes. You have to believe in potential and you have to invest in that potential whether it’s in yourself or someone else. Every single audience member that came to my show, every cast member and crew believed in my potential, and I am forever grateful of that. I think one of the most impactful things to come out of the show was the fact that when you share your ideas in a space that is collaborative and supportive, they grow. When you share your ideas in a competitive space they shrink and become smaller. For years, I had creative ideas, but I brought them to the wrong people who have made them small or made me feel bad for having these big ideas. Definitely make sure that you have people that are truly supporting you in your corner. For me while I was playing the show, I could only watch movies and TV shows that had a positive message. I could only listen to music that was uplifting and joyful, and I could really only surround myself with people that cheered me on. Because I was doing so much there was no room for negativity or a doubt. I really had to push that aside. I really had to lean in full heartedly to the idea that this fashion show would happen. I thought to myself for years now I’ve let what ifs and doubts hold me back. Maybe I should try just jumping in headfirst and I’m so glad I did.

Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?

Being overwhelmed is such a norm for us creatives. We are often doing 10 things at once. I really had to create a structure that supported when I felt overwhelmed because I such limited time to plan, execute and design this collection and the show. I had to make sure every day I was able to create and be there 100% mentally and physically. I feel like I started to understand why I felt overwhelmed and it was always because of three areas: lack of sleep, lack of food, lack of exercise. When I didn’t get proper sleep, I couldn’t think straight. When I wasn’t properly fueled, I wasn’t able to be as creative. When I hadn’t moved my body, I started getting stuck and unable to think of creative ways to problem solve. Solutions usually came to me when I walked away from the problem for a moment. I feel like often times when we are overwhelmed or we’re scared about meeting at certain deadline we often neglect these three areas and we think well I don’t have time. Something I’ve learned in the past few years is if you don’t make time life will. You have to take care of yourself otherwise something will happen that will cause you to have to pause. And above all else, having a supportive team, having friends and family that you can lean on; it’s such a special thing. I was so lucky to have such an amazing team behind Jude Canada fashion show. If there was an area that I didn’t quite understand I feel like there was someone who could take on that role. For example, our key make up artist, Natalie Roa was amazing at taking my initial concept for the make up and showing me what was possible for the day of the time constraints and how we could still keep it elegant and bold. Our Emcee, Caitlynne Medrek was amazing at saying what do you need me to do? She took the audience on this beautiful narrative of entering a Tuscan vineyard, of setting the stage before the designs came out and that was her tapping into her talent and that was an area that would’ve overwhelmed me if she didn’t step up and say, “hey, I got you”. And while we’re on this note, I feel like everyone deserves the recognition who is in the show because they all had a hand in making sure the flow and execution was perfect. Our models, Sofi Manko, Viktoria Jazmin, Dove Franco, Victoria Toews, and Amaris and Sonya of Ace Management. Our hair team, Bianca Dole and Hairline Vancouver, Our make up artists: Natalia Roa, Jordan Lewis, and Kiara Marie. Our photographers, Yvonne Hanson, Carissa Kearney, and Juniper K. . Our show jewelry by Pamela Card Jewlery. And our beautiful venue La Fabrique St-George Winery in Vancouver, BC. Also a special mention to our Irish Dancers Annie Sporer and Caitie Manser who joined myself on stage in the opening on Act 2 to surprise the audience with a dance performance.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.judecanada.com/
• Instagram: @judecanada and @heather.styles
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-jude-387499113/

Image Credits

Show Photographers: Yvonne Hanson Photography, Carissa Kearney of Through the Blue, Junikper K. Photography