We were lucky to catch up with Jeanette Jordan recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jeanette, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So, let’s start with trends – what are some of the largest or more impactful trends you are seeing in the industry?

As an executive coach that works with many venture backed startups, one of the biggest trends over the past year was the proliferation and adoption of AI technology. A lot of early adopters use AI to solve coding challenges, scale marketing efforts and to query internal information at record speeds. The mantra “do more with less” is finally becoming a reality and companies can now balance their need for exponential growth with their need to maintain or lower their cost structure. And this is just the beginning. I foresee AI eventually enhancing the way we do financial modeling, strategy and resource planning and even speeding contract negotiations. In general, the promise of incorporating AI into your daily business practices is exciting!

However, with the rapid adoption of AI technology one of the biggest concerns is intellectual property rights and ownership. In the current iteration of generative AI, many sources may be referenced or queried without being cited. The longer the cyclical process of using AI while simultaneously contributing to it (by putting content in the world) goes on, the harder it will be to pinpoint and prove who owns an idea or concept. Furthermore, as generative AI gets further integrated in our daily businesses, how will this impact or change the valuation of products or companies that are leveraging it? For example, if a company is using generative AI to help develop code, do they still own the code? While you can pay a premium for your data to not be shared with other users, who is at fault if that fails and intellectual property or personally identifiable consumer information is shared? Even scarier to think about, how will a data leak be mitigated once the information has been shared or used? Is there a way to identify who is using what should be private information and have it recalled?

While AI has many potential upsides, I believe the short term considerations and risks cannot be ignored.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Jeanette Jordan is a Strategic Business Advisor and Executive Coach with a passion for advising business leaders and founders as they grow, scale and pivot their business.

She worked for over a decade in the technology industry and held various marketing positions at NextRoll (formerly AdRoll Group), Factual (Foursquare), Neustar, Verizon, Millennial Media (acquired by AOL) and PayPal. Her responsibilities ranged from B2C customer acquisition campaigns to B2B go-to-market strategy and execution. She has experience with companies establishing joint ventures and acquiring other companies, and she assisted with the SEC filing for the IPO of Millennial Media on the New York Stock Exchange.
Today she is best known for effectively managing cross-functional projects and building high-performance teams. She most recently worked as the Chief Operating Officer at Take Your Seat, where she was responsible for all aspects of daily business operations. She also served as the Chief Marketing Office of Kapor Center, responsible for all aspects of marketing and internal and external communications.
Prior to joining the tech industry, Jeanette worked as an engineer and construction manager until the financial crisis in 2008. That subsequent career transition planted a seed and, for the past 10 years, Jeanette has been helping other people learn how to leverage and reposition their knowledge, skills and experience to find new career opportunities.

In addition to advising professionals on role transitions and assisting startups with their growth and agility initiatives, Jeanette provides executive outsourcing services to help startups meet short- to mid-term needs. She is also an accomplished speaker and podcaster on topics ranging from strategic growth, leadership, management, data monetization and privacy.

Jeanette received a dual bachelor’s degree from Spelman College and Columbia University in Science & Civil Engineering and holds an MBA from the University of Maryland College Park.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Learning to pivot and rebrand my skills and experience lead to becoming an Entrepreneur and Executive Coach.

I started my career in construction management and due to the financial crisis, I was thrust into my first career pivot. That experience taught me a lot about how to navigate career transitions and how to effectively talk about how my skills and experience relate to the industry I am excited to join.

After a successful transition into the tech industry as a marketer, I became a go-to resource for my business school advising and helping other people successfully change industries, job functions and/or grow their career. Without realizing it, this gave birth to my coaching career.

For over a decade, I’ve helped professionals ranging from early career to 30+ years experience find more joy and fulfillment in their careers. During the pandemic, the market and advertising sector was severely impacted by the lack of conferences, sports and entertainment events and general lack of purchasing anything that was not essential goods. At this point, it was clear that it was time to make a change.

While I liked my work as a marketer, it definitely still felt like work, hard work, on a daily basis. As I revisited the tools and resources I often suggested as a mentor or a coach, I decided to leverage them for myself. It was a clear choice, coaching is the thing I LOVE to do that aligns with my values, lifestyle and financial needs and it DOESN’T FEEL LIKE WORK! I can do it all day, everyday and I would do it for free (and have for many years).

In 2021, I took the leap and started coaching and consulting full time. It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I get to leverage my diverse experience and industry knowledge to support cross sector clients and I derive joy from helping people find more meaning and passion in their careers.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

One of the things that helped me build my reputation is the fact that I’ve been doing the work for many years before I launched my coaching business. However, it was still important to rebrand and reposition my skills and experience to talk about the success stories related to the coaching and consulting industry versus the work I’ve done as a marketer or construction manager.

Another great resource in helping me build my credibility is to get testimonials and referrals from reputable professionals who have similar roles or functions to your ideal customer. Referrals can be the best lead source for your business in any industry but it’s particularly important in the coaching and consulting industry.

Finally, I created a great brand to align with my business. I’ve considered the visual identity and what I want it to say about me. I’ve created content that aligns with issues and topics I like to work on. And I’ve focused on creating a consistent social media presence. I believe the combination of these three things along with delivering a high quality user experience and meeting or exceeding my clients expectations are key ingredients to building a strong reputation quickly.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jeanettecjordan.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeanettecjordan/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jeanettecjordan
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeanettecjordan/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeanettecjordan

Image Credits
Christine Cueto