Jozefien Forton

Founder, Maison Forton

On restlessness, conviction and learning to live with what takes time.

Ghent, 2026

I visited around fifty factories.

I was looking for people willing to help me rethink how we make and use rugs. A different product, a different business model. I needed people who were open to exploring that with me.

Across the table were people who knew their industry. They had established ways of working. And there I was, asking them to reconsider things they had been doing for years.

I believed in what I was proposing. But when you keep meeting resistance, you begin to question yourself.

I still do.

I have always needed to explore.

A year in Mexico. Studying in French in Brussels when the people around me chose Dutch. Going to China.

Being somewhere unfamiliar made me happy. There were people to meet, things to understand, another way of looking at the world.

People have always interested me. What drives them? Why do they do what they do?

Later, I had an international role that involved a lot of travelling. I worked with different cultures and a beautiful product. There was much I loved about it.

I was also busy proving myself. Building a career. Showing that I was good at what I did.

Then I had children.

The part of me that needed adventure was still there. Finding room for it became more complicated.

Now we are beginning to discover it together. We go camping, keep things basic, spend time in nature without internet.

I get to bring my children into something I have always loved.

When something no longer fits.

After my second daughter was born, I returned to a company whose direction had changed. People had left. The future I had imagined there was disappearing.

The way decisions were being made no longer felt right to me.

When something feels wrong, I start questioning it. I find it difficult to put that feeling aside and carry on. So I began looking at what I could build myself.

I loved interiors and beautiful things. I enjoyed working with people. And I liked innovation: looking at something and wondering how it could work better.

Those interests came together in Maison Forton.

I wanted to create something that could last longer and adapt to the person living with it. Circularity had to be part of it from the beginning. I was thinking about what we were leaving for the next generation, too.

That gave me a reason to keep searching.

It did not make the search easy.

Four years beneath the surface.

For a long time, I felt as though I was digging without knowing where I would emerge.

I worked hard. But working harder did not make development move faster. That was frustrating. I am someone who likes things to move.

I had exchanged security for uncertainty. Around me, friends had more stability. I compared my situation with theirs and wondered what it would take to make this work.

Conviction kept me going. So did a desire to prove that innovation was possible in this industry.

Both were there.

For a long time, I wanted people to understand what had gone into the product. The doubts, the searching, the years of development. I wanted that effort to be seen.

I need that recognition less now. I know those years are there. They helped make the product what it is.

They have also changed how I look at other people’s work. I used to judge much more by the result.

Now I notice the effort and the intention behind it.

Barefoot over the dunes

One morning, I went barefoot over the dunes with my children.

There is still a part of me that thinks I should be at my desk. On time. Getting on with things.

But I am beginning to give myself more room. A small adventure with the children. A weekend kept free for our family.

It sounds straightforward. For me, it takes practice.

I thought having my own business might make everything fall into place. But work can still occupy all the space I allow it. I have to make room for the rest.

Our holidays keep becoming simpler, and I keep discovering how little we need. Being outside is enough to make me happy.

That has always been in me.

I let myself follow it more now.

Saying what I think

I enjoy conversations where we can speak openly, ask questions and think alongside each other.

In my work, I meet people who appreciate that I question things and suggest possibilities. They welcome something that others can find exhausting.

I feel comfortable in those exchanges. I can say what I think.

It is harder when everyone seems satisfied with something that, to me, needs to change. I struggle to leave it alone.

That restlessness can be useful. It can also be lonely.

Finding people with whom I can speak freely matters to me.

Still learning

Financial uncertainty still worries me. I want a solid foundation. I want the business to work.

But I am also asking myself how big it needs to become, and how I want to spend my time. There are projects I care about. Places I want to go. A family I want to be present for.

I have learned that I can give something my best without being able to determine the outcome. A few years ago, I would not have understood that in the same way.

I still believe we can change things—for the climate, for people, for the next generation. I want to contribute to that, however small the step.

When I think about what I would say to my younger self, I come back to an image.

You have wings. You can find another branch.

I am trying to remember that myself.

Jozefien Forton
Founder, Maison Forton
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