Carly Jean Los Angeles is an online clothing and lifestyle brand that sells primarily women’s attire to customers around the world.
Ask the company’s owners, Chad and Carly Jean Brannon, and they’ll give you another definition: It’s a stewardship from the Lord meant to be wielded for His glory and the good of others.
That mindset has motivated the couple to invest in The Master’s University and its students, committing time, energy, and resources to Chad’s alma mater and the alma mater of more than a third of the company’s employees.
“I’ve been given so much by the University and by Pastor John’s ministry through Grace Church,” Chad says. “And we thought, ‘Hey, we’ve already got this natural interaction happening with TMU. Do we want to formalize it in any way?’ That’s how it started.”
As it happens, it was also at Grace Church that Chad and Carly Jean first met nearly 20 years ago. They married in 2006, and two years later Chad finished his degree in organizational management at TMU.
By then, Carly Jean had already started Carly Jean Los Angeles (CJLA), operating a brick and mortar location, mostly selling vintage resale designer products and clothing she had in her closet.
In 2010, Carly Jean and Chad pressed pause on the business as they grew their family. But in 2015 they decided to relaunch it online.
Since then, the company has shipped nearly 1 million orders to over 150,000 customers worldwide. CJLA prides itself on producing timeless pieces of clothing that can be mixed and matched with what women already own, creating a seemingly endless number of everyday outfits. Chad and Carly recently added a men’s line — 1906 Collective — as well as a home and children’s line.
Over time, the company’s staff expanded, with many of the new employees coming from The Master’s University. Today, TMU alums are running data and finance, overseeing millions of dollars in clothing production, and heading up marketing. Several TMU grads also work as interns. “We have Master’s alums everywhere,” Carly Jean says.
Why so many employees from the same university? For one thing, Chad and Carly Jean believe you can’t teach character.
“That’s one reason we love the students we’ve gotten from TMU,” Chad says. “They care for people well, and people see that our business is different.”
A handful of years ago, Chad and Carly Jean decided they wanted to bless TMU in return, signing on as corporate partners and looking for concrete ways to engage with the student body.
One way is by guest speaking in classes. During his time as a student at TMU, Chad says that his management and leadership skills increased, as did his focus on glorifying Christ in the arena of business. Now, he aims to pass those insights on to current TMU students, answering questions from young men and women who hope to follow in his footsteps as Christ-honoring professionals.
For her part, Carly Jean recently served as a judge at the finale of The Master Interview, an annual competition where TMU students create resumes, perform elevator pitches, and receive mentorship from industry pros. Five finalists ultimately sit for interviews in front of a live audience.
Carly Jean and her fellow judges deliberated and ultimately chose Samuel Jean, a kinesiology major, as the winner. The grand prize was a $2,500 scholarship.
“It was a blast,” Carly Jean says. “I absolutely love getting to meet students, and I was so blown away by how it was organized and the way the students prepared and executed. I think it’s such a valuable tool for students to be able to get this kind of hands-on experience before graduating.”
CJLA has plans to do even more with the University. This spring, the company sponsored a Mustang basketball game, giving away CJLA sweatshirts, and Chad was scheduled to speak in another business class. Chad and Carly Jean also love engaging with students at TMU’s career fairs. What’s more, “We have an interview here in just a couple days with another TMU student who’s graduating,” Chad said in December.
More than anything, Chad and Carly Jean want to honor Christ in everything their company does, so they’re actively building a culture that reflects Christian values. They hope more TMU alumni will work for them in the future.
You can learn more about Carly Jean Los Angeles at carlyjeanlosangeles.com.
