hey, girl
My name is Jennifer. And I get it.
You’re tired of corporate life. You want to start a side hustle, maybe even quit the 9 to 5, and start a full-time business. But you don’t know where to start—what to write, how to design. Hell, even naming your business is like naming a child. You need direction. A friend to woman the map, and help you brand yourself as the damn-fine professional entrepreneur you envision.
Lucky for you, branding small businesses is what gets me out of bed in the morning (although I’ll never turn down a side of bacon). I’m the brains behind Gemini, a branding studio and educational platform that unifies voice and visuals to tell unforgettable brand stories, and help you attract clients that convert. Can I get an amen?
Keepin’ it real since Dirty Dancing premiered to Swayze-crazed fans everywhere.
MY FIRST LOVE
You could say it all started with dance: My sister’s hand-me-down slippers and a tutu from the dress-up bin inspired the beginnings of a lifelong love affair with ballet and an affinity for the arts. Sub pointe shoes for boys, and dreams of the corps de ballet consumed me for 14 years.
THE END OF AN ERA
Fast-forward to high school. I was dancing in the pre-professional division of the School of Alberta Ballet with visions of the Sugar Plum Fairy dancing in my head when injury struck. The backup plan: study creative writing and become a Vogue contributor. As you do.
THE SIDE HUSTLE THAT STARTED IT ALL
After graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce and a Writing Minor, I landed a government job. While suffocating in my colorless cubical every day (I feel you), I started my first side hustle, a gemstone jewelry studio, and soon learned I liked marketing jewelry more than making it.
BECOMING A TRIPLE THREAT
To become a one-woman show—the marketer who masters business, copywriting and design—I went back to school for graphic design. I landed a design internship at a national magazine then became the in-house designer for an international brand of all-natural, tea-infused popsicles.
ENTER, AGENCY LIFE
After taste-testing my share of popsicles, I was hired as a junior designer / UX designer / copywriter for a local agency and established myself as the resident wordsmith. Agency hustle took me from Boston to Houston to the Caribbean Sea, collaborating on over 200 brands and writing over 150 websites.
SAY HELLO TO GEMINI
Agency life primed me for entrepreneurial life, handing me the opportunities for professional and personal development that would inspire me to dream bigger: I dreamnt of Gemini, my own branding studio that unified my worlds of writing and design to help other woke women dream big, too.