We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jennifer Matthews a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jennifer, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started sooner or later?

If I could go back in time, I would have started my business much sooner. I started my business in July 2022, after I had graduated from Walden University with a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice with a specialization in Law Enforcement Administration and a dissertation centered around body-worn cameras, making me an expert in the field. However, prior to graduation, I had over 6 years of experience and training in body-worn cameras. I had connections in the industry as well. I could have started my company and begun getting my feelers out and gaining name recognition so that once I graduated my degree would have enhanced my business. I attend body-worn camera conferences on a yearly basis for networking purposes. Informing the attendees that I have a viable business, consulting, analyzing, and reviewing body-worn camera footage would have been a valuable asset to have over the years. Again, this would have garnered me some recognition amongst my peers. But, with me starting my business once I was an official graduate, in some ways put me at a disadvantage. Starting much sooner would have allowed me to build my brand faster, and gain a larger audience by now for my podcast, YouTube channel, and Instagram page. These connections would have been beneficial for my consulting company.

Jennifer, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My personal entrepreneurship journey began when I completed my doctoral degree. I am a criminal justice and body-worn camera expert with over 7+ years of hands-on training experience and I am a lifelong learner who aims to acquire new knowledge and skills to take on new and challenging responsibilities. I knew I wanted to empower the lives of the next generation by helping them gain the knowledge I have acquired. It is important to me to see them soar to higher heights in their careers and lives. Therefore, with all these thoughts in my mind, I knew I had to do something positive with my knowledge. My brother-in-law connected me with a friend of his who was a brand manager. She and I had one conversation and from there, my business was born.

With her managerial skills and my talent, we knew that together, she could help me form a business that would help me put my talents to good use. Not only for the next generation, but also to train law enforcement officials, speaking at career days, conducting keynote speaking engagements, and providing expert witness testimony for attorneys who could utilize my expertise in court cases. From there we hit the ground running and have never looked back.

My business, Dr. Jennifer Matthews Consulting, is unique because my goal is to educate the public and law enforcement about how effective body-worn cameras and closed-circuit television cameras are and how to use them more effectively. The services I provide are virtual/in-person training, and keynote speaker services to educate the public on best practices when dealing with law enforcement. My business provides training to high schools, colleges, law enforcement academics, etc. All to create positive social change in communities and beyond. My business also provides consulting services for attorneys who need body-worn camera videos and closed-circuit television cameras analyzed for court cases. This valuable service could mean the difference between an innocent person going to jail for the rest of their life or being rightfully released. Currently, there are very few (if any) minority-owned and female-owned businesses that are concentrating on this subject matter. My efforts are highly necessary for today’s social climate.

My biggest accomplishment to date is that I was able to spend a full day teaching multiple classes of high school juniors and seniors about the body-worn camera profession, better ways to interact with police officers, and informing them that there are additional occupations in criminal justice besides being a police officer. Each class was very engaged and did not want the class to end. They all asked their teacher when I could return because they wanted to ask me more questions and hear more fascinating stories. I prepared a presentation for the class, and I was not able to get through half of my presentation due to the students having so many questions and due to the interactive nature of my presentation. This was my first-time teaching teenagers (I’m used to teaching adults) and it went better than I could have ever expected. Based on their initial reviews, I’ve been able to return several times and teach many other classes.

Dr. Jennifer Matthews Consulting connects and supports community members by informing them of their rights when interacting with police officers. As well as how to conduct themselves in the presence of officers so they do not have to be nervous or fearful of law enforcement. The community at large believe body cameras are a negative tool that the officers wear. My training can educate the public on the positives of body cameras, how they can obtain copies of the body camera footage if they were stopped, and how the footage can be used to their advantage. The public is simply unaware of these facts. The training that my business provides empowers them, so they are no longer afraid to fear a cover-up by law enforcement.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy I have used to grow my clientele has been using Google ads. I hired a social media person from Upwork who is phenomenal. I interviewed several candidates before I decided to hire him. However, he was the best choice by far! He was affordable and he understood my unique business and the niche market that I need to attract. We had a couple of strategy Zoom sessions to get on the same page regarding what I was seeking and what he could offer. From there, I told him that I would trust his judgment because he was the expert. He did not disappoint. He was able to create ads that were very specific to my market.

My social media manager has been able to drive traffic to my website: drjennifermatthews.com on a regular basis now. On my website, prospective clients can book a free 15-minute consultation with me so that I can assess their needs. My website gives a brief overview of my accomplishments, gives a brief list of the training courses that I conduct, and provides a link to some online training courses that I have authored. It also provides many ways that people can get in contact with me. My social media manager was an intricate part of bringing my Google ads and website to life.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I began to build my Instagram (drjennifermatthews) on social media by making posts about my specialty: body-worn cameras. In the first post, I used it to introduce myself and my business. From there I would make posts related to my business and vital facts that I thought people were unaware of, but they could use the information in their daily lives. This would get people to take notice and then start to like and share the post. From there people would want to follow me to see what I was going to post next.

Then I would post on a regular basis: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. It was important for me to post on specific days on a regular basis so that my audience could glean a pattern from my posts. Consistency is key when it comes to social media.

Next, I started making Reels because they are popular right now. I used trending music because I knew that would gain people’s attention as well. It’s important to use relevant hashtags so that you are gaining the attention of your target audience as well. Lastly, the content of the Reel must be interesting and entertaining for people to like it and want to begin to follow you.

The combination of all these things is what helped me grow my social media presence.

Contact Info:

• Website: drjennifermatthews.com
• Instagram: drjennifermatthews criminaljusticecorner
• Linkedin: Dr. Jennifer Matthews
• Youtube: Dr. Jennifer Matthews PhD
• Other: Podcast: Criminal Justice Corner (can be heard on Spotify and most podcast carriers)

Image Credits
Felice Kimbrew