We were lucky to catch up with Jacqueline Ho recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jacqueline, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

In the 2010s, I was one of the many NYC foodie influencers. Instagram was still static images, reels weren’t a thing. It was really pure. That’s how I got my start really utilizing social media as a tool. I partnered with restaurants to help them develop better food content. This was more of a hobby as I worked full time in ad-tech and had for nearly 10 years.

Fast forward to 2020 and a pandemic move to NJ with an infant, I found myself in a cute town with new restaurants to explore and I did what I knew best, I looked up all the places on Instagram. What I saw were many inactive social media accounts, blurry photos, nothing that enticed me to want to visit these places. I was still working full time in ad-tech for the same company so i put this idea on the back burner. Then in 2023, I got laid off. Thankfully my severance package was generous and I was able to take some time for myself. At this point, I had been at the same company for nearly 11 years, I now had two children, we had become homeowners, so many huge life changes and growing up had happened. I spent a couple months doing a lot of yoga and I worked on a farm for a month. After all that though, I was reminded of my idea nearly 3 years ago and thought, should I?

So it was in August 2023, The Thumbs Behind Marketing was born. Our town has a very strong and active Facebook mom group that encourages small businesses to promote themselves weekly and it was in there that I booked my first client. As a one woman show, I have a handful of clients, all women owned small businesses, all mostly moms. It’s been so fun. There’s a pressure to appear perfect on social media, to have a crafted appearance, hair done, etc but I’ve been encouraging all my clients to show more of their authentic selves, that’s what people will relate to.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m Jacqueline Ho, married mom of two living in central NJ. My husband and I met in NYC and lived together there for 7 years before a pandemic move to the suburbs with our then 5 month old. In our child-free city living days, we did what most New Yorkers do, go out to eat! From Michelin star restaurants to hole in the walls, I loved eating it all and I would post it on my Instagram – @jaxieeeeats is a former NYC foodie influencer account that has turned very much into #momlife! I worked with many restaurants to feature their food and worked together to create food content. After we moved to NJ in 2020, I found myself in a brand new town with restaurants to explore…but their social media channels were not active, food photos were blurry. I saw the need for these small businesses to get some help with social media but I was working full time and put the thought away.

It wasn’t until 3 years later when I got laid off that I took some time for myself. After nearly 11 years at a company, I had birthed two children, became homeowners, I was wondering what’s next. There was so much change and I did a lot of reflecting and was reminded of that thought from 2020. There are small businesses locally that could use some social media help so The Thumbs Behind Marketing was born. My clients span industries and their comfort levels with social media vary but the one thing that is consistent is we are building authentic community through their channels and establishing brand awareness.

My personal Instagram is truly mostly #momlife now, there’s no escaping that! I do cook and bake with my daughters so there is still food content with a lot of mom life, mom humor.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

MOMS! Beyonce said it best, who run the world, girls! Moms get shit done, am I allowed to say that? All of my clients are moms, nearly all of them own their businesses or their business is a side-venture to their full-time job.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

2018 was an overall awful year. My cousin gave birth to her son and it was during childbirth that they discovered a tumor, she died May of 2018. My grandpa in San Francisco died in July of 2018 of cancer as well. My mom, my husband, and I had flown over for the funeral, my mom stayed there longer while my husband and I flew back to NYC for a wedding. I was on the subway between stops when my phone rang and it said “Dad” calling but when I answered, it was a police officer. I sprinted off the train to get above ground so I could hear. My dad had been assaulted minutes from my childhood home in NJ. The attacker robbed him of his wallet and then hit the back of his head and neck so hard that my dad was left unconscious on the side of the road. A good Samaritan stayed with him and called 911. The police officer had said over the phone he had an abrasion on his arm…when I got to the hospital and saw my dad with my own eyes, he had a neck brace on. I didn’t understand. It turns out the attack shattered two vertebrae in my dad’s neck leaving him paralyzed. He was in the ICU and underwent spinal surgery and months of physical therapy and rehab to relearn how to walk, feed himself, basic human functions. My mom, a family friend, and I would split our time after work rotating and visiting my dad first at the hospital, then at the rehab center. I ended that year with shingles and a tough conversation with my manager at work whether I really wanted the position I had at the time. It was hard to really care about advertising technology after the year I had been through. The loss of my cousin and grandpa, and near loss of my dad really put life into perspective. Priorities were shifted. It may not be the best way to look at it but whenever I have a tough moment now either with my kids or in my business, I think to myself, it can never be worse than 2018. Nothing is ever as bad as 2018.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thethumbsbehindmarketing.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxieeeeats
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-thumbs-behind-marketing/
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/thethumbsbehind

Image Credits

I have the rights to these images, they’re all taken by me or my husband.