Pinal Today

Naletta Jo Faultner celebrated the opening of Jotastic Boutique in downtown Coolidge with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in late October.

She thanked her supporters and expressed hope for the future, according to Coolidge Examiner.

"I've had this in the works and ideas for years now, and it’s just so surreal for it to actually be a thing," she said. "This has been a dream of mine, and I couldn't have done this without all my family and friends who've helped me along this journey. And I just can't wait to show you guys all this work."

Faultner, 16, started the business three years ago inside a 1962 Shasta trailer, Coolidge Examiner reported. She is now opening a new store located at 244 W. Coolidge Ave. Members of the community were present at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Those in attendance included Jon Thompson, mayor of Coolidge; Rick Miller, city manager; Kevin Cavanaugh, Pinal County District 1 supervisor; Jacque Hendrie-Henry and Eric Daniels, Coolidge City Council members; and members of the Coolidge and Florence Chambers of Commerce.

"We are super excited," Lisa Lopez, Ridgeview College Prep High School instructional coach, said. "We are incredibly proud of our young Jo. She is amazing; she's been working hard for the last three years for this. And she's a founding student — year two — and she graduates this year."

Thompson recalled seeing the business grow from its early incarnation, according to Coolidge Examiner.

"I remember the first time when they came and opened up out here in the back and there was a little trailer back there and there was a girl even a lot shorter then, and she had a whole bunch of stuff in there for sale," he said. "Myself and the city manager, Rick, we bought what we could and got out of there, and we knew at that time she would be an entrepreneur and here she is, opening her first establishment that doesn't roll away."

Cavanaugh said Faultner is providing a service to the community, Coolidge Examiner reported.

"When it was opening, we thought 'Fantastic, we have a retail store open,'" he said. "The county talks about retail leakage. Everybody shops at Amazon, but only about 20% of retail is done online — we need those stores."

Cavanaugh spoke to Faultner at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, according to Coolidge Examiner.

"I'm very proud that you've opened this," he said. "We're going to be customers. We're your neighbors; if you need anything, if you need some help unloading the truck, just run over to my house."

Ariah Faultner said she is inspired by her younger sister, Coolidge Examiner reported.

"She literally inspired me to do my clothing line," Ariah said. "I wasn't going to do anything. I was just like, 'Oh, I'm in school; I'll focus on that.' And she was like, 'Riah, if you want to do something, just do it. Like, what's the worst that's going to happen?' So, yeah, that girl is just my main inspiration. Even though she's my little sister, like, that girl – she's something else."

Faultner said the Jotastic Boutique is about more than just looks, according to Coolidge Examiner. She wants to focus on upcycling clothing and reducing waste.

"I'm really just trying to just be able to push the sustainability aspect on fashion, just because even I was falling into going into fast fashion and then realizing I don't like any of the clothes in my closet," she said. "Because every year, there's obviously new styles, there's new trends, there's something else that you don't have. But, whenever I started just kind of focusing on building my own style off of what I'm seeing in a store and upcycling those pieces, I was way happier with my wardrobe. I was much more confident in myself and just going into the world."