Her Story
About Jennie
I started in this business when I was in college and just never left - I've literally grown up in this business over the past 25 years. My journey began in the most unexpected way: I was at Starbucks waiting for a networking group, working on my BlackBerry, negotiating Exhibit A language on an agreement. A man overheard me and said 'I want to hire you.' That began my partnership with someone from the cable industry, and together we created a consulting firm. I understood the landowner and apartment owner side, he understood cable, and we complemented each other's resumes. We started helping clients go from analog to digital, then to fiber optics, and now we're getting everyone ready for AI and the future of 10G. I've represented major clients like Ladera Ranch, a city of thousands in California where we negotiated one of the lowest bulk internet rates in the entire United States. I've also scaled an internet company from 1 state to 15 states in 22 months as Chief Operating Officer - I'm known in the business as a hyperscaler. I work in a male-dominated industry where I go to conferences with 3,000 men and 5 women, but I've built a strong presence with 50,000 followers on LinkedIn, mostly CEOs. I'm writing a book with the thesis that America is powered on the internet - it's the central nervous system of society, and without it, we're all crippled. This work is about helping those that need help and finding opportunities to represent them and get them into a better position.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Jennie
01What do you attribute your success to?
I've had to align myself with coaches and subject matter experts who became my friends and provided me with blueprints and guidebooks. In the past 10 years, it's been about coaches - both male and female, though mostly male because I work in a male-dominated industry. These aren't people I pay, we're just friends, and it's reciprocal. Sometimes they call me just to be a cheerleader. They tell me 'why don't you try this?' and if I can execute on it, which I do, that gets me to the next level. That's pretty much how I've gotten where I am today. Early on, I also had women mentors like Daeho who taught me advanced sales training, and Maria who was part owner of a cable company - I used to say to her 'when I grow up, I want to be you.' But when you're on your own as a woman without a big corporation backing you or a husband backing you, you go to conferences. I just wanted to be a sponge - just put me in the room, let me take notes, listen and listen and write things down. That's where I learned my education, through conferences and becoming a subject matter expert in my field.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would tell her to attend my conference in September, where I'm part of a women's leadership conference training only women in four specific fields: oil, gas, water, and infrastructure. Even if she wanted to apply for a free pass to attend by webinar, she could learn the playbook not just from me as a successful business woman owner, but from other women in leadership roles on how we navigate the world. Unless you've done this on your own, there's no guide - you can't just go on Amazon and buy a book. That's a great starting point, but if you have yourself in an environment where you can hear from others and pick up one small idea or another big idea or even a tiny idea and blend them into your own day-to-day, that's more powerful. I would say to the younger woman, if you can't attend my conference, then align yourself with some coaches who are subject matter experts in where you want to go. Look at a person completely and say 'when I grow up, do I want to be them?' And if the answer is yes, then try to see if you can get them to mentor you, because that's the most powerful thing you can do as a young person, in my opinion.
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