Her Story
About Jenna
I've been in the construction and real estate industry for almost 10 years now. Currently, I'm running the furniture and design space for Focus Studio, a full-service design-build firm out of Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. I oversee our design team and furniture specifiers, and work directly with our clients to ensure that their needs are met, that their space is designed thoughtfully to make sure their employees are getting the best use out of the space. We love to design elevated spaces for commercial interiors, and that could be anywhere from a typical office space to healthcare, education, retail, and even hospitality. I work day-to-day with my design team, bridging the design team and the construction team to create a cohesive project timeline and execution. There really isn't a typical day in my role, which keeps it fun and interesting. Most days, I start in the office and meet with my team early on to review our projects and set goals. I might be pulled into a client meeting to help them go over what furniture has been specified, fabrics and finishes. Many days I'm in Manhattan giving showroom tours and really getting to know the client and how they're best utilizing the space. Other days, I'm walking job sites, working closely with GCs to confirm site measurements and make sure everything is aligned with what we have specified. I graduated with a degree in communications and design from the University of Rhode Island. I worked in high-end luxury fashion out of college, then realized I was really more interested in real estate and construction. I was in the furniture space focused directly on furniture for about 6 years, and then this newer role has really brought me to have an overarching role that incorporates my furniture experience in addition to the construction and real estate industry, and also integrating the background that I have in design.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Jenna
01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
As a woman in business in an industry that's really male-dominated, I look up to a lot of the women in this industry and see how they're strong and they walk into a room filled with men. They've communicated to me not to be intimidated by that, to have confidence and walk into that room and go up to someone and introduce yourself. As I grow my network of women in business, I really lean on them for support and advice when it comes to how to navigate this industry. There are certain situations where you walk in and you're the only woman in the room, or you don't know a single person, and really, to just take that first step and go and introduce yourself, you open up a communication with somebody new and you have no idea where that's gonna lead to. I would say just having the confidence to branch out and do something that's a little bit outside your comfort zone, you're gonna end up being so happy about it as you look back. It's really gonna add a positive trajectory to your career. Something that scares you is usually you're on the verge of something great.
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