Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Jordan Santini of Henderson

We recently had the chance to connect with Jordan Santini and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jordan, thank you for taking the time to reflect back on your journey with us. I think our readers are in for a real treat. There is so much we can all learn from each other and so thank you again for opening up with us. Let’s get into it: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
Lately, running has been bringing me so much joy. I just finished marathon training and ran my first marathon, which still feels surreal to say. It reminded me how good it feels to chase a goal you care about. Most people forget that feeling of being so hungry for something that you’ll rearrange your whole life to make it happen, and I’ve really loved reconnecting with that.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Jordan, the founder of Rotate, a socially responsible fashion brand based in Las Vegas. Rotate is built on a buy–sell–upcycle model that keeps clothes in circulation and out of the landfill. People can sell their unwanted clothes to Rotate, shop secondhand pieces, or see those same items transformed into something completely new through upcycling.

What makes Rotate special is that it’s not just about fashion, it’s about participation. I want people to feel inspired to use what they already own, experiment with creativity, and rethink what “new” really means. Through programs like Sell to Rotate, DIY Repurpose Kits, and community events, I help people fall back in love with their clothes and their personal style.

Right now, I’m focused on growing Rotate’s local presence through pop-ups and partnerships while continuing to educate people on how fun and empowering sustainability can actually be.

Okay, so here’s a deep one: What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
The part of me that used to hold me back was the one that thought everything had to be perfect before it was worth sharing. I would research every stat, overanalyze branding and tone, and spiral if something didn’t feel perfectly aligned. I’d worry that my instagram caption didntn convey my thoughts the way i wanted them to, or wonder if I had enough supplies for a repurposing party or that my upcycling skills weren’t strong enough yet. I spent more time second-guessing than actually doing.

But I’ve already released that part of me. Starting messy, trusting the process, and being confident in what I have to say has completely taken over. Building Rotate taught me that people don’t connect with perfection, they connect with honesty. Once I stopped trying to make everything flawless and just started creating, everything began to move forward.

What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
Growing up, my mom always told me that I had to work for what I wanted. It felt like I always had to try ten times harder than my brother. He was naturally gifted in a lot of areas and things came easily to him, while I had to study longer, pay closer attention, and put in more effort just to keep up. At the time, I didn’t realize how much those words would shape me, but they did.

My mom never meant it in a bad way. She was just honest about what she saw in me. Looking back, I’m grateful for that. It built the kind of drive that I still carry today. I learned early on that if I wanted something, I had to work for it, and I did. That work ethic has carried me through every chapter of my life.

But over time, I’ve also learned to rewrite that story a bit. For so long, I believed everything had to be hard to be worthwhile. Now I see things differently. Life can be easy if you allow it to be. You can do hard things, but you can also decide to make them easier in your mind. That mindset shift has been one of the biggest parts of my healing and now I realize I don’t always have to struggle to succeed.

Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What truths are so foundational in your life that you rarely articulate them?
Grit and Resilience. I don’t think I realized how deeply those two things were a part of me until I started working in sustainable fashion. There are days when it feels like I’m taking two steps forward while the fashion industry takes two hundred thousand steps back. It can be discouraging to see how fast things are produced, consumed, and thrown away while I’m over here trying to slow things down and change the way people think about their clothes.

But grit is what keeps me showing up anyway. It’s what makes me believe that my small steps still matter. Resilience is what helps me reset on the hard days, remind myself why I started, and keep going even when the wins feel few and far between. This work requires a level of patience most people don’t see. You have to care deeply about the long game.

I’ve learned that progress in this space doesn’t always look like huge breakthroughs. Sometimes it looks like one person choosing to repair instead of replace, or one conversation that makes someone rethink how they shop. That’s where grit and resilience really come in. You have to stay rooted in the belief that small impact is still impact. Those two values have carried me through every chapter of this work and keep me grounded in the bigger picture, even when it feels like the world is moving in the opposite direction.

Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
Right now, I can honestly say I’m doing what I was born to do. For the first time, everything feels aligned. My skills, lessons, talents, curiosities, and connections have all come together in a way that makes sense. It’s taken time to get here though.

For years, I struggled with purpose and direction. I wasn’t sure if it was because the problem I wanted to solve in fashion felt so big, or if I just didn’t know how to define what my passion really was. I used to feel stuck in that space of thinking I should’ve accomplished more by thirty or had everything figured out in my first career. But I’ve learned there’s no perfect timeline. You’ll always wish something happened sooner or later, so it’s better to just let things unfold as they’re meant to.

Before Rotate, I think I was doing what I was told to do. Go to college, get a stable job, move up the ranks. I’m grateful for that foundation, but it never fully lit me up. Starting Rotate changed that. I finally feel like I’m doing what I was meant to do all along. I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit, but I never had anyone to model that path for me. I had to figure it out on my own, and that journey led me right where I’m supposed to be.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.rotatelv.com
• Instagram: @rotate.lv
• Other: Tiktok: @Rotate.lv
  Pinterest: @rotatelasvegas

Image Credits
Headshot: Kim Headshots
Rotate Brand Photos: Ashlyn Savannah Photo