Ahna Elizabeth Waddell and Haylee Mathis are co-owners of Barely Jade, a women’s online clothing store based out of Plant City and Lakeland, FL. 

The Lakelander spoke to Ahna and Haylee to talk about Barely Jade and their journey to create and expand the online clothing store.

Ahna Elizabeth Wadell

Haylee and Ahna have been friends since high school and always dreamt of opening their own online shop – so they went for it. “We are both very inspired by designer pieces. But being so young, we wanted to create a brand that was affordable and accessible while still looking trendy and stylish.” 

Barely Jade focuses on carrying both classic pieces that will transition well from season to season as well as trendier pieces that may be great for one season but won’t carry on to the next. 

Barely Jade’s recent collection was inspired by Jacquemus summer and fall runway along with Reformation’s casual, and lightweight looks.

“This past season, floral dresses were some of my favorites and now transitioning them into fall by pairing them with knit chunky sweaters is perfect for Florida fall and winter” says Waddell.

As Barely Jade begins to introduce some of the early fall collection, you will begin to notice how Sally LaPointe’s fall runway has inspired the Barely Jade pieces coming late fall/winter.  

Both Haylee and Ahna share similar taste but each have their own unique creative eye for styling allowing them to showcase their online pieces in a variety ways.

Haylee Mathis

“Creating mood boards has been big for us, it helps bring our vision together and keeps other key elements of our team on the same page like our photographers,” says Waddell.

Barely Jade’s launch back in April 2019 was a success, selling out of most of their products. Haylee and Ahna continue to work full time and run Barely Jade daily.

“Seeing the support from friends and family was truly amazing, we worked so hard to create something everyone could enjoy and it was really cool to experience the results of that on our launch day,” says  Haylee. 

Ahna and Haylee look forward to continuing to build a loyal customer base and eventually manufacture original designs as well as open a brick and mortar store for Barely Jade. 

Lakelanders, you can type in the code PICKUP at checkout on BarelyJade.com to pick up your items in person, you can also find a rack with select Barely Jade pieces at Salon Chateau in Downtown Lakeland.