Meet Jess Howe | Owner & Curator of Ruinous Revived.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jess Howe and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jess, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I started studying interior design back in 2015. I loved it but I felt something was missing. I’m such a hands on person so I missed the kind of creating that was more physical that designing interior spaces didn’t satisfy. Trying to figure out where exactly I wanted to go with my career, I happen to be browsing the free page on craigslist one night and I felt inspired by these parts and pieces that others found useless in their own lives. I saw the potential in saving the most beat up ones and the odd ball things that you’d say ‘what the hell are you doing with that?’ So then it hit me. I started teaching myself how to refinish and restore pieces within a few months. After a few years, I graduated from FIT and I learned enough through my refinishing projects and also through my minor in art history about the history of furniture to make it real and I started Ruinous Revived.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
The benefit to coming into a shop where every part of it is so carefully handpicked and curated is that there’s nothing in the shop I’m not excited about. My love for restoring, saving old pieces, and caring for houseplants pours into every piece that comes through my shop. It’s not just old junk I throw out on a shelf where you buy it and get out. I’ll tell the stories that were passed on to me when pieces have a good history to them and I’ll tell you all the endless amount of houseplant care tips when you want to pick my brain on a certain plant.

As to how I got where I am today, I’m not someone who studied business or marketing or even imagined I would be a business owner one day. When I knew I wanted to start a business, I knew the anxiety of not knowing enough would only hold me back so I just had to go for it and learn as I go and that’s what I’ve done. Even 5 years later I learn more everyday. Was it or is it easy? No but if I didn’t rip the bandaid off back then and gone for it, I might have went a different way with my life.

The most important lesson I’ve learned along the way is that there will never be that ‘ah ha’ moment where everything falls in place and you’ve finally ‘made it’. Everyday is a climb. There are high points and low points. I think the phrase ‘love what you do and never work a day in your life’ has fooled at least myself at one point or another. No matter how much you love what you do there are hard days where you’ll question everything. No matter how ‘successful’ you become there will always be another step on the ladder. So I’ve learned to love the steps in the journey. Every moment I see the joy in a customers face when they find that one perfect piece and they thank me as they walk out this door with it, I stay in the moment as long as I can and so I can remember that’s it. That’s why I do it.

Though Ruinous Revived started out as solely refinishing and restoring furniture, the brand has evolved in to so much more just as I have since I was 24. I’ve been able to take saving furniture from the trash to making a whole lifestyle brand out of this ideology. The shop now carries anything from barware to clothing to old records and even now houseplants. I hope to make it easier for those to see how much of your lifestyle can be secondhand, vintage, and sustainably sourced while still designing a home and lifestyle you love. In a world where we’re pushed to want new everything constantly for the sake of being on trend, I hope to make buying consciously even easier so it can be more of a first option as opposed to supporting other big box stores who don’t care about their community or their impact on the environment. Not only can it be more affordable but, helps limit waste along the way with each secondhand purchase. Of course there are some limitation for what you can buy secondhand, like I’m not buying secondhand soap that is for sure. For the things that are past that line, I feature a number of local small artisans, woman owned businesses, and other sustainable companies that support our vision to lessen our impact on the environment. It may sound silly but even the bags of plant soil and plant food we sell are sustainably sourced!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
First stop on the itinerary is always going to be Norma’s in Wappingers. There is no better start to an adventurous day off than a big ol’ New Yorker and cup of coffee, or if we’re feeling fun maybe switch the coffee with a bloody mary or mimosa.

After that, my favorite spot on a nice summer morning is to plop my butt in the sand over at Little Stony Point in Cold Spring. There are so many cute corners there that you almost always find a good spot to relax by the water or if we’re feeling more energetic there’s a brief hike to the top point with a gorgeous view of the valley.

Of course, being a vintage shop owner, I would need to show them my favorite antiques, vintage, and secondhand spots around. We’ll 100% being saying hi to Judiann at Damnaged Vintage in Cold Spring, chatting with Tony at Stonebridge Antiques in Wappingers, and supporting the local Restore by Habitat for Humanity because I can never walk out of there empty handed.

Another local favorite that doesn’t involve shopping, I love a good night roller skating at Roller Magic. Not only is it a good time skating but I almost always walk out of there with a new friend after chatting with the other regulars there.

Now let’s talk more about my favorite thing in the world. FOOD. I know I have to grab a slice of pizza from Pete at Wagon Wheel at least once or twice. One of those I’ll probably grab through the pizza window that leads to the Champagne Bar next door so I can visit Vanessa and she can tell me about the newest cocktail list she’s curating, or just give me a killer martini too.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Choosing to run a small business has always been seen as such a risk to take to support yourself. Over the years, I’ve always had to fight with the imposter syndrome in my own head of whether I could do it and while people admire what you do there will always be those who wish you would just quit. Those who wish you would just do something more conventional and more reliable, not out of malicious intent but more out of worry for your own good. Over the years, I’ve seen that look and heard those words out of the mouths of many as I started my business at the young age of 24 and then immediately following the pandemic and years of unrest since. If there’s any one that’s shown me how much they believe in me and helped me remember how much I’m capable of it’s my sister Melissa. To this day she reminds me that I’m someone to admire for my hard work and passion and even on the hard days she reminds me to keep going.

Website: ruinousrevived.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ruinous_revived/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-howe-ruinous-revived

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ruinousrevived/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-ruinous-revived-wappingers-falls

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ruinousrevived3619

Other: Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ruinousrevived

Image Credits
For the first image of myself sitting in the chair: Photograph done by Caitlinn Mahar-Daniels The images of the shop: (myself) Jess Howe