#AllCoopedUp with Jeet Sohal, Jewelry Designer + Founder of Bare Collection
The experience of almost selling Jeet and her family a vacation house was a fantastic adventure for our team. Great style and grace do not always go hand in hand. But, in the case of Jeet and her lovely family they most certainly do. Jeet Sohal is the designer of Bare Collection, which she founded in 2003. She brings her vision of brilliant, authentic, refined, and enigmatic women to every design. Drawing on her Indian, Filipino, Spanish, and American heritage, she creates jewelry that is intricate, beautiful, eye-catching, and yet very simple. She is a mom to 3 boys, wife to one husband, an avid crafter, gardener, and cook.
What’s your profession, and what does your day-to-day work experience look like now?
I design & fabricate jewelry for Bare Collection. Pre-COVID, free time outside of my full-time responsibilities at Bare was spent consulting on projects ranging from hospitality to product design. Despite the quarantine, I now have very little free time. Mornings from 6:30-9:30 are spent in the studio for Bare, followed by phone check-ins with clients, retailers and suppliers until lunch, and then continuing with any computer work until 3. If I’m on a computer at my dining room table while my kids are remote-learning in the kitchen, I can help them through any rough spots. After dinner, while the kids get ready for bed, I close out open items in the studio or on my computer.
Are there objects or spaces in your house that you are newly appreciating? Or are there objects and spaces you have come to loathe?
I am hugely appreciative of my dishwasher! We upgraded to a Bosch dishwasher with AutoAir in February, which holds twice as many dishes and dries perfectly without rinse-aid. I’m also OBSESSED with my dual-fuel Wolf range. The electric oven start/stop feature means frozen sausage or fresh pastries ready in the morning, quesadillas ready for lunch, and a sheet pan dinner ready (on time!) with minimal prep work. It’s a game changer.
Describe your at-home quarantine uniform.
Rachel Comey or Rodebjer pants with a cotton t-shirt and cozy Anine Bing sweater or day dresses from Natalie Martin or Christine Alcalay. Quarantine hasn’t changed the uniform much. I could never bring myself to invest in sweats or chic leisure wear pre-COVID, and I still can’t.
Who are you quarantining with? Do you feel the need to “get away”? How do you make it happen?
I’m quarantining with my husband and 3 sons, aged 7, 9,10. My sister drops her 3 year old daughter here for “school” from 10-4 since she cannot WFH every day. Thankfully, I’m such a homebody; I never feel the need to “get away.” I’m also aware that we are extremely fortunate to quarantine in a beautiful space with restorative gardens.
What’s the last thing you purchased online? Regret or obsessed?
I read an article about Prune in the NYT and immediately purchased the cookbook from Barnes & Noble. I definitely LOVE reading it.
Tell us the best shows, podcasts, or books you’re loving right now.
The boys are watching old episodes of The Office or Brooklyn Nine Nine. It’s a quarantine Friday night ritual that gives Eric and I some quiet time to catch up and decompress. For podcasts, I love Elise Loehnen Fissmer on Goop, How I Built This, and I’ve added Hillary Kerr’s Second Life to the mix. I listen to podcasts during meal-prep or while cleaning. Normally I have 2 or 3 books going at any given time, but with all of the additional housework, I’m just tucking into Vanity Fair or a cookbook to wind down.
Do you have any new quarantine activities or rituals?
Outside of my devotion to Nyakio’s Tamanu Firming Face Balm, I’m terrible with beauty rituals, but quarantine has forced my hands! Literally. I used to wash them at the end of my work day, but now it’s at least 10x a day. Knockout Beauty pointed me towards The Spa-Ritual Citrus Cardamom Hand Salve, and it’s definitely my favorite indulgence. Earl grey is also great. I’ve added a wind-down ritual where I massage Organic Pharmacy Arnica Oil into my worn hands and wrists; it helps me relax right into sleep.
What is your favorite quarantine snack? What restaurants are you ordering takeout from?
I’ve been leaning into smoothies using Catherine McCord recipes and protein powder from Tejari and Co. I order the protein powder in bulk from their website. Sidebar: online ordering is definitely NOT my thing since I hate all of the packaging, so I try to minimize my footprint by ordering in bulk, which comes with its own issues. I use the Smoothie Project Planner Sheet to organize and motivate. The smoothies are a perfect recess snack for the kids, and they meet my breakfast needs. I did cartwheels when Tere’s Mexican Grill and SK’s Donuts finally started back up. We cook a lot, but we also want to support our neighborhood favorites. We’ve been getting takeout & groceries from vendors at The Original Farmer’s Market, Republique, Osteria la Buca, Antico, and Go Get Em Tiger.
What is the one item you’re glad you stocked up on? What do you wish you’d stocked up on?
We had a multi-family trip planned up to Mammoth for spring break and I had stocked up on meats for chili, stews, braises, etc. All that frozen meat has definitely come in handy during quarantine. I wish I had stocked up on dried red kidney beans. Those have been impossible to find!
What is your creative outlet and how are you making space for it?
My creative outlet is definitely time in the garden. I force all of us to spend time outside during recess, lunch, and after school to balance against screen time spent remote-learning. The kids play while I tend to my plants.
Describe your biggest quarantine indulgence.
With all the baking and bread making happening, I broke down and bought a stand mixer to take some pressure off my hands. I had no idea that it would take 3 weeks to arrive!
If you have kids, how are you maintaining some kind of schedule for them?
I’ve been impressed by how quickly their teachers pivoted to online learning and continue to evolve their process. The kids have a later start to their day which means the main struggle is getting them in bed at 8 so I have an hour to myself before I crash.
What are you doing for exercise?
Initially, nothing. Thanks to my kids, I’m now rotating between Barry’s Boot Camp for cardio & weights and Whole Body Method for pilates streaming.
Are you sharing recipes with friends?
I’ve been finding inspiration in a few friends' instagram accounts. They are making meal planning super easy! Heather John Fogarty, Serena Duff, and Leanne Citrone are my go-tos.
What’s been the biggest challenge for you throughout this?
All the calm I project when my kids are remote-learning. My kitchen is always messy, my retailers are closed, my wholesale business is cratering, the world is uncertain, and I’ve needed to embrace technology personally and professionally in a BIG way, despite my luddite inclinations. It definitely takes its toll emotionally and manifests physically. My friend and artist, Danvy Pham, sent me some meditation sequences she’s been creating to help with deep breathing and sanity. I listen to them in the morning while I stretch out my back in bed. I also discovered that spring allergies, combined with my constant desire to nest, meant I wasn’t moving enough. Pre-COVID, with weekly allergy shots, I’d play tennis with friends, take a class at LEKfit, and walk to restaurants, work, etc. All of those are now off limits, including walks in the morning and evening, since pollen counts are highest at those times. During the first several weeks of “Safer at Home,” I was cleaning my floors after dinner. Not surprisingly, that didn’t cut it. Now that we are starting to emerge from lockdown, I’ve found that what works is exercising with my kids. They LOVE virtual instruction, and make sure we take a class together every day. It’s either their PE class for school, pilates to kill some time before bedtime, or a weights & cardio class with Barry’s.
When this is over I cannot wait to ___________.
Gather family and friends for cocktails, dinner or picnics. A Zoom dinner party is just not the same!
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