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When Jessie James Decker took the stage as the keynote speaker at Nashville Lifestyles' Women in Business event on Aug. 20, she had much more to discuss than her music career.
The singer, television personality and entrepreneur has built a growing lifestyle business rooted in fashion, food, and home. From her Nashville-born KITTENISH clothing brand to her bestselling cookbooks and expanding Just Feed Me cookware collection at Walmart, Decker has transformed her passions into businesses that continue to grow alongside her family.
Decker will headline the magazine's annual Women in Business celebration from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Aug. 20 at the Hilton Nashville Green Hills.
While many fans first discovered her through music or reality television, Decker says she's always been drawn to creating.
"When people ask what I do, the word that comes out of my mouth is I'm an entertainer," she says.
That broad description reflects a career that's never fit neatly into one category.
Long before KITTENISH became known for its denim, festival collections and cozy Basics line, Decker was designing outfits in the margins of her school notebooks.
"I should have been paying attention (in class)," she says with a laugh.
At first, those sketches were simply stage clothes she imagined wearing as a country artist. Years later, she realized fans weren't just connecting with her music — they were paying attention to her style.
She remembers arriving at one of her earliest department store appearances after her reality series Eric & Jessie: Game On debuted. She and her mother, Karen Parker, noticed crowds gathered outside but assumed shoppers were waiting for something else.
"They all start screaming, and I look at my mom, and I'm like, 'Oh my God, they're here for me,'" Decker recalls. "They were all dressed like me. It made me realize, I guess I have a style."
Rather than letting the moment pass, she treated it as market research.
She began releasing small capsule collections. When they consistently sold out, she recognized there was demand for something bigger.
Opening KITTENISH's flagship Nashville store in 2019 marked a turning point.
"I've never ran a business before," she says. "I'm a creator. I'm not an operations person. There have been many times over these past years where I should have probably just quit. But it goes to show you, I don't give up without a fight."
Today, the company continues expanding through its Nashville storefront, online business and retail partnerships while introducing seasonal collections and preparing another launch of its popular Basics line.
"It's what we're known for," Decker says. "It's cozy wear, but it's also intimate without being too sexy."
The brand's aesthetic has remained intentionally rooted in the South.
"You will always find some sort of fringe or paisley or gingham or denim," she says. "You will always find something that brings it back to our Southern Nashville roots."
Even at home, the business has become something of a family affair.
Her daughter, Vivianne, has become one of her most trusted advisors.
"She's my sounding board for everything," Decker says. "She knows what's cool and what's trending way more than I do."
Fashion isn't the only area where Decker has found success.
Food has become another cornerstone of her growing lifestyle business.
"There are the five love languages, right?" she says. "But I believe that there's six. And the sixth one for me is food."
This fall she'll release her fourth cookbook, The Secret Sauce: A Family Cookbook Seasoned with Love, co-written with her mother and sister, Sydney Rae Bass. Scheduled for release Oct. 6, the book blends family recipes with the stories behind them, celebrating generations of Sicilian and Louisiana traditions.
"I thought it would make the most sense for this fourth book to do it with my mom and my sister," Decker says.
One chapter, "Cajun Queens," honors the recipes Parker learned growing up in Louisiana.
"We grew up eating really good, thanks to my mom, and my mom grew up eating good thanks to her mother and her grandmother," Decker says. "We just come from a long line of really amazing Sicilian Louisiana women. The things that we are sharing in this book are hopefully recipes and tips and tricks and ideas that other families will fall in love with and make those traditions their own."
The cookbook naturally expanded into another business opportunity.
Following the popularity of her Just Feed Me cookbooks, companies approached Decker about creating products for home cooks. Today, her Just Feed Me cookware line is sold in Walmart stores nationwide.
"It's crushing it again," she says of the collection's recent sales.
True to form, she wasn't interested in producing bland kitchenware.
"You'll see strawberry prints everywhere," she says. "You'll see that Southern flair. You'll also see Italian prints."
For Decker, the products are about creating homes people enjoy living in.
"I just want people to have pretty things and feel good about it and feel excited about it."
And she's not finished.
She already envisions expanding into categories like bedding and bath.
"I would love to be my own little Martha Stewart," she says. "I will continue to do things on my own terms.”