Enterprising Women Fall 2021 Edition

SPOTLIGHT I n 2016, Jennifer Compton left a successful communications career at a Big Four professional services firm to found J&L Communications, a full-service international marketing and public relations agency. Over the last five years, the business has grown four-fold and now comprises a global team of 30 professionals working in disciplines ranging from video and event production, to content marketing, digital communications and design. Here, Jennifer talks about what drove her to start her own company and shares her advice for aspiring founders. What was your background before starting J&L and what prompted you to start your own business? I wanted to create a different agency model—one that was leaner where clients could work directly with a small team of senior-level specialists focused on their specific needs rather than paying for our services and our overhead. Over the years, working within agencies and managing them in-house for large corporations, I saw a flawed model where clients were handed over to less experienced people but still charged a rate for senior level talent. All too often I saw this, “bait and switch,” where the work suffered, and I wanted to change the status quo. Our model allows for a true partnership with clients. We are an extension of their team and that relationship and ultimately trust is why we’ve grown. Early on, I identified a way of working virtually with teams and clients before COVID-19 made it a necessity. We deliberately built a team of specialists to deliver great work: that came first, geography came second. This way of working has also proven to be more cost effective for clients. In my role at EY, I had worked on the flagship Entrepreneur of the Year and Strategic Growth Forum events which, over the years, included incredible success stories like Amazon, Spanx and Hint Water. In my role, I spent enough time around entrepreneurs who “had” to pursue their passion for that to plant a seed. I told one of our entrepreneurs that I’d love to start my own company and she said that if I ever went out on my own, she would be my first client. When I called to let her know that J&L was up and running, she was true to her word and signed on as my first account. Did you have any qualms about leaving a successful career to found your own company? As a side project, J&L grew quickly. I had a sense of “I think I can do this, and I want to do this,” but was still very nervous about going out on my own. My father taught me the invaluable lesson of always being financially independent, so I saved 12 months’ salary over the course of a few years to provide a cushion for myself. I also spoke with my husband, who was incredibly supportive and told me I should either go ahead and do it or stop talking about doing it! My boss was based in a different city at the time and when I finally took the train from New York to Washington D.C. to resign in person, I noticed people were paying a lot of attention to the man sitting next to me. When I took a closer look, I realized I was riding with Jeopardy legend Alex Trebek. He struck up a conversation and when he asked why I was headed to D.C. I told him, “What is… quitting your job?” He was so sweet and supportive that I took it as a sign that I was doing the right thing. What was the hardest part of starting your own business? When you’re working for someone else’s company you just show up every day and do great work, without worrying about any of the administration that’s handled behind the scenes. Benefits, 401k, accounting, contracts and insurance are all managed for you but when you’re a small company you’re handling all of that in addition to your client workload. I quickly realized I couldn’t handle all those things on my own. Getting the support that I needed in everything from financial to legal advice was a critical next step, but not an easy one. Another challenge is finding people who care about the business as much as you do and share common goals and values about growth. I took on a business partner a year after starting the business who is everything the successful entrepreneurs will tell you to find: someone you can trust, someone with different strengths and competencies (this is key) and someone with whom you can fairly balance your responsibilities. That transition period, where I was feeling my way and realizing that I couldn’t do everything on my own, was hard for me personally but also hard on loved ones who had to watch me work all the time. Together, my partner and I have found and grown a team of amazing people who can fly the plane with us. What has been the best part of founding your own company? When you work in-house for someone else, particularly at a big company, you benefit from the halo-effect of their brand. When it’s just you, you are the brand and you Jennifer Compton J&L Communications Being Your Own Brand: How to Grow a Global Business 84 enterprising Women