CEO Jen Boyles on entrepreneurship: Interview
In honor of National Entrepreneurship Week and JBD’s 6th birthday, we sat down with founder Jen Boyles for a conversation that explores her insights and experiences building JBD into the thriving collaborative it is today.
What inspired you to become an entrepreneur?
I’ll just be really honest and say it was hard to have entrepreneurial qualities in the highly patriarchal industries of media, marketing and advertising. Coming to advertising from journalism at the start of the “content is king” era, I saw a lot of missed opportunities that were skipped only because “that’s just not the way we usually do things.” I hate that sentiment - that doesn’t make real, transformative, lasting change for the better. So, in a nutshell, I wanted to do things in a more sensible way without all the red tape that’s there “just because.”
What’s your secret weapon for overcoming challenges?
This industry is all about solving challenges. Brands come to us not because they have it all figured out — they have a challenge to meet in the market that could benefit from outside expert perspective. So we problem-solve at JBD every single day. The secret sauce is really simple but not easy: Never give up. If you look at every angle, usually the overlooked one is most human. The answer’s in tapping into our humanity and leading with that, even when it’s difficult or expensive.
-What’s the most unexpected skill or talent you've discovered within yourself through the process of building JBD?
One of our partners said, “you are the best new business person I’ve ever met” one day, and after I finished choking on my granola bar I realized I’m pretty good at selling in new work. The key is to always be honest and transparent about what you think the solution truly is — and be OK with them taking it or leaving it. No one likes a hard sell.
-How do you balance the demands of your professional life as an entrepreneur with your personal life, and what strategies have you found effective in maintaining that balance?
I’ve acutally always done this, even when it wasn’t popular in the corporate world to hold steadfast to boundaries. I say “no” a lot, even when it’s uncomfortable. The other day, I was asked me to hold an internal meeting on the weekend and I simply said “Sorry! I only take meetings on the weekdays.” and we figured it out, no issue. My mom taught me long ago that “there will always be more work” and I remember that every time my kid is calling me to go play Pokemon with him. Working from home makes those boundaries even more… interesting — and all the more necessary.
How do you envision the future of women in entrepreneurship, and what role do you hope to play in shaping that future?
I’m so inspired by women. Especially the ones that don’t shout it from the rooftops and simply DO. So many of my female coworkers I worked with at a corporate agency are off doing their own thing now and are complete, fully-realized badasses. I would like to think it was always in their plan but know a lot of them attempted to make their way at these bigger agencies but got roadblocked. To see them THRIVE in spite of those challenges — even using them to create demand — is amazing. I hope the future of women in these self-made roles happens much less as a reaction to corporate America and more as an actual organic career path. I believe this is already happening with Gen Z and will only get stronger.
-If your entrepreneurial journey had a soundtrack, what three songs would be on it?
What a question! When I’m about to go into a big meeting, I play “Mama Said Knock You Out” by LL Cool J to gas me up. If that’s lame, I don’t care. It works. I’d also say Beastie Boys “Sabotage” and Doja Cat “Paint The Town Red.” Everyone needs a few confidence anthems.
What’s the most unexpected or humorous challenge you've faced while building JBD?
At JBD, we came upon big responsibility fast. I wish I would have trusted in my own ability to do managerial tasks in the beginning, rather than try to offload it out of insecurity (“But I’ve never done XYZ before!”). At the same time, you need certain people to execute certain creative - do not rely on your damn iPhone. You would not have believed some of those early photoshoots. One time we drove all the way up to Brainerd to get a bad photo of an ice cream cone. Live and learn, but get free ice cream out of it.
If you could give one piece of advice to aspiring entrepreneurs, what would it be?
Do everything with your gut instinct and work on honing it however you can. There is SO much time wasted on second-guessing. Also, you teach people how to treat you at every interaction — use that gut instinct to know when to give grace and when to move on.
If JBD were an emoji, which one would it be, and why?
The green heart, duh. 💚
