Models and Joja founders Josephine Skriver and Jasmine Tookes: We learned the business 'from the ground up'

Both Josephine Skriver and Jasmine Tookes have been modeling for more than a decade for brands from Victoria’s Secret to Tom Ford. Now, they’re focused on building a brand of their own. Named Joja – derived using the first two letters of their first names – Skriver and Tookes’s activewear brand launched in February. It bears the same name as the Instagram account the pair launched in 2016, which unexpectedly gained a large following.  “It really just developed over our passion and love for fitness and staying healthy, and holding each other accountable in the gym,” said Tookes. “We started posting our workouts on Instagram, and it was really just for us to share our journey in the gym with each other. And out of nowhere, girls from all over the world started sharing their workouts with each other and holding each other accountable.” Today, the Instagram account has more than 700,000 followers. And that community’s demand for Joja “merch” is what drove the launch of the brand – which the founders plan to expand far beyond activewear. “Hopefully, we can build an entire Joja universe,” Tookes said. “We have so many ideas we want to do. Joja is really a fun opportunity for us to build an entire umbrella around health and wellness, whether that includes protein drinks or beauty waters or workout equipment. The opportunities are endless.”