"I've had to sacrifice so much, so for me, persistence was always what got me through everything," Jason Pinchoff, founder of New York-based fashion line A PINCH LIFE, tells A Plus. By the time he was 18, he'd lost his sister and father, Jacqueline and Herbert, in a car accident, and his mother, Linda, to cancer. Instead of succumbing to these personal tragedies, he pushed through to create professional success.
Finding a creative outlet for his talents hasn't just helped Pinchoff cope with his own difficulties, but has inspired and empowered others as well. "Whatever you go through, if you use your history to help people, then everything you went through has a purpose," he adds. To honor his mother, he founded the Linda B. Pinchoff Foundation and its Kids' Day events to "bring a voice" and support services to those affected by cancer, which he supports with proceeds from A PINCH LIFE.
Before starting his own fashion line, Pinchoff worked in video production for over ten years. That experience taught him how to adapt and change "on the fly," a lesson that has continued to help him as an entrepreneur. "I find a lot of people get very stubborn in business because it's either their way or no way," he says, "[But] there's always more than one solution to every problem." Pinchoff encourages people to overcome obstacles by "opening their minds" to alternative solutions from those they trust. "Not everyone is gonna have the right answer, but someone might say something that helps you think a different way," he explains. After experiencing so much tragedy, Pinchoff could've turned his back on the world. Instead, he not only embraced it, but found a way to change it.
Jason Pinchoff (PINCH NYC & The Linda B. Pinchoff Foundation)
Dealing with a health crisis or the death of a family member is never easy, but for Jason Pinchoff, tragedy struck all at once. In 1992, Pinchoff lost his father and sister in a car accident. Later that year, he lost his mother to breast cancer. This series of personal misfortunes led Pinchoff to found the Linda B. Pinchoff Foundation, an organization named for his mother and dedicated to supporting and "bringing a voice" to families affected by cancer.
"My first approach was to work 80 hours a week and not tell anyone what was going on," Pinchoff said. "I realized so many people become silent due to disease-related issues, which is one of the main reasons I launched the foundation. It gave me a chance to use my history to help others."
Through his journey of self-healing, Pinchoff recalled the lessons he learned from his family. He was raised to keep fighting and never allow any situation to stop him, he said. This instilled perseverance, helping him push past his fears and follow his passion — which ultimately led him to start a clothing company, PINCH NYC, to help support the Linda B. Pinchoff Foundation.
"Being an entrepreneur is one of the greatest highs, but it comes with a lot of stress and a lot of worries," Pinchoff said. "You have to be ready for the good and bad ... and never let any of that stop what you believe in and what you are doing. I see too many people who want to start a small business but [fail] because they don't truly have that heart, which no book can teach you. You have to be willing to risk several hard years for great years ahead."