"Do your homework upfront on your marketplace, your customer and your competition" with Jen Newman

Photo Credit: Nick Cook @imisstheoldnick

Jen Newman is the co-founder of The Joy Standard Events, she shares her story of how she transitioned from the world of corporate marketing to stay-to-home mom, to starting her own successful event planning business after years of community volunteer work.  

Jen has established herself as an event industry expert by applying her corporate marketing and management skills to creating beautiful, meaningful weddings and events for clients throughout New Jersey & Pennsylvania.

The Joy Standard has tripled their business year after year even during the pandemic and attributes that success to hard work and a strong foundation of core company standards they live by.  

Can you tell our readers about your background?

I started my career in the advertising industry, on the account management side working for large-scale marketing companies like FCB global and Digitas North America. I worked in that industry for over 10 years, building up my experience and expertise by managing multiple international brands requiring multichannel marketing. I was one of the industry leaders in the development of interactive marketing, launching the first online car buying website with General Motors and receiving the CIO award with my marketing team. After becoming a Vice President Marketing Director, I took a pause in my career to start a family. While home with my growing family, I shifted my efforts to my community by volunteering for multiple neighborhoods, school districts, and sports organizations. Ultimately, utilizing my creativity and management background to build, organize and grow these various groups and deliver on their ever-changing needs.  After running hundreds of community events, fundraisers, and volunteer groups, I decided to officially shift my focus to the event industry – that is when my sister and I started our company, The Joy Standard.

What inspired you to start your business?

My sister Caitlin. She worked in the retail clothing design business for many years. She has such a great eye for design, much like the art directors, copywriters, and producers I used to work with at Advertising Agencies. She was interested in shifting her career focus, and one day while we were having lunch in Philly together, the idea to start our own event business together was born! By combing both of our skills and backgrounds, we knew we could be super successful in that marketplace.  I can honestly say, the two of us create magical events together. She’s our designer, making sure everything looks beautiful and perfect and I’m the account manager who makes sure we stay on budget and ensure the event is executed flawlessly with all of the best vendors. We have the perfect combination of skills and experience for this industry.

Where is your business based?

We work out of our home offices in Chatham N.J., Philadelphia, PA, and Cape May N.J.

How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?

We wrote a business plan and documented what makes us different from other event companies. We clearly articulated what we stand for and how we want to be thought of in our industry and by our customers. Writing down these core standards for your company, and committing to them helped us create the foundation of our brand, The Joy Standard. Once we established what we stand for and what our product is, we worked on all of the logistics, like getting a tax ID number and registering our LLC.

What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?

We started small with listings on some of the wedding directories like Wedding Wire and The Knot. We designed our website by incorporating keywords and optimizing it for search engines to find us. We donated a few party planning packages to local school fundraisers to build awareness of our company. We get most of our business from referrals which is really nice because it means we’ve done a great job for our clients.

What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?

Our biggest challenges have been scaling our business to meet the growing demand and balancing work with family commitments. We’ve realized that growing organically is best for our small business so we’ve added Assistant Planners along the way to help us manage the extra work. Once we get enough business to hire a Senior Planner we will do so. Work/Life balance is always a challenge, so I make rules for myself to follow so I don’t work non-stop. My number one rule is that when someone I love is home and free to spend time with me, I don’t work. I put my phone down and engage with whoever is around me. It’s important to be fully present for both your Clients and your family.

How do you stay focused?

Coffee! Just kidding. I write everything down in two places, a huge paper planner on my office desk and in google meetings which shows up on my phone calendar and computer. This also helps keep track of time spent on each job. I’m a very visual worker, so need to see things in writing. In my business timelines are everything, so when we get a job we create a timeline right away and always stick to it.

How do you differentiate your business from the competition?

It’s all about your brand and what you stand for. We think what sets us apart from other planners is that we have standards we hold ourselves accountable to. We focus on the important things and really work hard to make sure the joy in every event and wedding we plan is central. With every job we do, we go back to our core standards and make sure we are meeting or exceeding each one, every single time. We think this is a recipe for success and provides us with a way to ensure we knock every job out of the park!

What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?

Word of mouth is our #1 marketing tool. If you do a good job, you will get referrals. Our Clients have sent us so much business and we are so thankful to them for that. The other tool we can’t live without is social media. Instagram is huge with our Clientele.

What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?

Do your homework upfront on your marketplace, your customer, and your competition. Take the time to understand what the landscape of your business looks like and how you can differentiate yourself from others who do similar work. Know what makes you special, and be confident that no one else does it better than you. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. We seek out expert advice all the time. Our vendor partners have seen it all and we always know we can depend on them to tell it to us straight.

What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?

My favorite book is “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen R. Covey. It’s my favorite book because you can use the information inside for your work life or personal life. I highly recommend it for anyone from stay-at-home moms, to corporate executives to small business owners. I’ve done all three of these jobs in my lifetime and have used this book as guidance, inspiration, and reference many times. I don’t have a favorite blog, because I love so many different ones equally. My favorite app is Pinterest, we use it to share imagery with our Clients and also use it as a tool to collect and organize images for our event plans.

What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?

The Internet! I am always trolling Instagram, the Web, Pinterest, YouTube, Bridal blogs, and vendor posts to see what the latest trends, interests, and followings are. By knowing what Clients want, staying on top of trends, and constantly seeing what other designers and planners do, helps me do my job better.

Who is your business role model? Why?

My business role model is my sister-in-law SuLi Rivera. She is the VP of Marketing for Rakuten Rewards and the mother of two active boys.  Not only is she a huge advocate of women in business, but she has also shown me that you can do both jobs of Mother and Executive well. She is living proof that if you are organized and set yourself up for success by surrounding yourself with people who lift you up and support you to be your best and also make sure that those people are rewarded and cared for equally, you will be wildly successful.

How do you balance work and life?

I believe that being flexible is the key to balance. Set a schedule for yourself, but if something doesn’t go your way, just smile and pivot!

What’s your favorite way to decompress?

The only time I’m not thinking about work or family is when I play tennis. I’m on a few tennis teams and playing is my favorite way to decompress. 

What do you have planned for the next six months?

Many, many events and weddings! But we also have a few fun things planned for the family too. We are going on a much-needed vacation to St. John in March to celebrate a few milestone birthdays.

How can our readers connect with you?

The best way to connect with me is via email: jen@thejoystandardevents.com You can also find me on Instagram @thejoystandard and my company website: https://www.thejoystandardevents.com/