We recently connected with Jen Miles and have shared our conversation below.
Jen, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?
Creativity and community are two of the most important things in my career. Without having the support from my community when I decided to venture out and start my own business, Simple Email Strategies, I would not have been able to scale and grow like I have. My career started when I served as the office admin at the Carefree Cave Creek Chamber of Commerce in 2012. I worked there for two years supporting local nonprofits, small businesses and promoting local events. I’m passionate about small businesses and helping them succeed, so it was almost a natural transition of my progression in the community to start my own businesses, utilizing my creativity and the contacts that I had developed over the years of being so heavily involved in the community.
After building up my client portfolio for a few years, in 2017 I was approached by Steve Woods at Tech 4 Life, to grow the digital marketing arm of the company. He asked me to come on board as a partner and merge our businesses together to create a one-stop-shop for the community regarding technology assistance and digital marketing. I have now been the Vice President of Digital Marketing at Tech 4 Life for five years and couldn’t be more grateful for my work environment, my clients and longtime associates and friends. I get to help local businesses and nonprofits with their social media, email marketing, graphic design, and website development, all things vital to the success of a business. I pride myself on thinking of creative, fun ways to help businesses achieve their goals.
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
People know me as the person that is always smiling and making sure everyone is enjoying themselves. I think that is one of the most important things in life, being a shining light for people and a sign of hope, community, and camaraderie, as business can be very cut throat and difficult at times. I pride myself in the relationships I have developed and I think exuding positivity and building strong relationships are major factors in a successful business. Not everyone has a massive marketing budget, especially nonprofits and local businesses, so I try to meet people and businesses where they are at, whether that is teaching them how to do it on their own or finding a marketing plan that works for them and helps them achieve their goals.
I have been a Carefree Cave Creek Chamber of Commerce Ambassador since I started Simple Email Strategies in 2012, and have been named Ambassador of the Year in 2017, 2019, and 2020, an award given to me by my peers for being a local leader and advocate for the betterment of my community. I am proud of what I have accomplished in the 13 years I have been in the community and I’m always looking forward to the next person, business or nonprofit I meet and get the pleasure to work with.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I ultimately started from scratch. In all of my business ventures, I have had to work hard to rise to the top and create the life I have today. I am so thankful for my journey as all of its obstacles and adversities made me who I am today, a proud member of my community serving as, Director of the Cave Creek Unified Education Foundation, Carefree Cave Creek Chamber of Commerce Ambassador, Community Partners co-founder, member of Soroptimist International of Saguaro Foothills, and a member of Desert Foothills Community Alliance in addition to my role at Tech 4 Life.
Coming into a brand new community in 2012, not knowing anyone, to now actively serving my community in a variety of different ways, and completely expanding my network and thriving outside of my comfort zone is my definition of resilience. I’m proud of being able to use my network to connect other likeminded people and businesses, and having people recognize me in the community as the friendly, welcoming face. Being so involved in the community keeps me quite busy, and I am so thankful to have a husband that supports me wholeheartedly and lets me be exactly who I am supposed to be and want to be.
How’d you meet your business partner?
I met my business partner, Steve Woods, owner of Tech 4 Life, when I was working at the Carefree Cave Creek Chamber of Commerce, before I started my own business. I am so grateful to have worked with and known Steve for all of these years, and from day one, have always thought of him as a really close ally and mentor. I am very proud of what we have accomplished together over the years. We now are responsible for and manage an eight person team in Carefree, a business he started solo out of his home in 2004.
Steve has also always emphasized the importance of community and how loving your neighbor should always be a priority. He always tells me if you show your community love your community will love you back. Those are key values we represent and how we run the company, and we believe those are some of key factors to how we grew the business. His passion for community is shown through my growth as he dedicated and invested a lot of time and resources into helping me get to where I am today.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://techfourlife.com/
- Instagram: simplejenm
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jen.rogers.miles
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenmilest4l/