We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Julia Cochran a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Julia , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?
When I started my company I had four children (now I have six) and I named the company using their initials. J. Elm stands for Joey, Emmie, Logan & Milo. I did this so I wouldn’t ever forget the reason behind starting this company – family. It is so easy to get lost in the weeds of the day-to-day and forget why you decided to embark on this entrepreneur journey in the first place. For me, it was to remove the limits I perceived I had encountered working for others, and to set my sights higher in order to better provide for my children.
Julia , 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 company, J.Elm Business Solutions, is an association management & corporate event planning firm. We provide comprehensive business management services to nonprofit associations & businesses including marketing, communications, accounting, event planning, etc.
I started out working for a regional nonprofit trade association and found the work to be interesting, challenging, and diverse. These were all things I enjoyed as no two days were ever the same. After working there for 15 years I decided to launch my own business focusing on association management and corporate event planning services. My company has grown over the past seven years from one client to twelve clients, including statewide and national associations. All of the growth has been attributed to referrals, something I am very proud of because it shows our clients are happy with our work.
The J.Elm team is comprised of hardworking members who truly care about their clients. This isn’t just “a job” for our team. we are very much committed to the success of each nonprofit we represent. I believe what sets us apart from others is the fact that we all have demonstrated grit and an attitude that we can figure anything out. We wear many hats in this line of work and we are all really proficient at switching gears, putting in the time, and mastering whatever needs to be done. It is a skill and an art to be able to do that, and to do it gracefully.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Owning a company that manages events during a pandemic, when events were not allowed to be held, was a challenge to say the least! Our clients are primarily nonprofit associations who rely on events as major sources of funding. It suddenly became very important to the success of not only my company, but the success of every one of our clients, for us to get real creative, real quick. Our team became masters at virtual events learning how to host them, how to make them engaging, and how to keep people connected. We created custom trivia games, partnered with local restaurants to host virtual cooking demonstrations, hosted virtual wine tastings with renowned sommeliers, etc. We did everything we could to focus on the positives and keep people connected in a time where connection was sorely missed.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I believe our reputation as a team is built on the fact that we really care about our clients and that we are very hardworking. No one questions our work ethic or our commitment to the overall success of our clients. This is key in reputation building. People who know us, know that we are dedicated to helping them achieve their business, fundraising, and professional goals.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.JElmSolutions.com