Jen Guntner is the Client Account Manager (CAM) at Elle Marketing and Events. If you don’t know what a CAM does, she describes it as taking care of everyone’s needs internally and externally and getting a client from point A to point B.
It sounds like a tall order, but if anyone can do it, it’s Jen Guntner. No wonder she’s the client’s go-to on the marketing team. Read on to see what Jen’s background and business are all about.
Jen Guntner: Early Experiences
Jen Guntner’s love for marketing began early. In high school, she watched a show about marketing, magazines, and running campaigns. And she was hooked!
It spoke to her soul, something she knew would be fun yet challenging. She attended Eastern Illinois State University in Charleston, IL, a smaller university with intimate 15-person classes, and studied communications and advertising. Jen enjoyed it so much that she wanted to dive further into it.
She got a job at USA Today and worked in the print industry for a while, but then she met her husband (another wild story) and decided to move to Wisconsin to be with him.
Fun Fact: Jen met her husband in high school in a senior class for animal care (her husband took the class as a joke for easy credits). They dated for a while but then didn’t meet up for 8 to 9 years as he moved out of state.
They met up again when he returned after basic training for the army, sparks flew, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Becoming Her Own Boss
During COVID, she was working from home and realized that there were many ads for VAs (virtual assistants). So Jen did a short course, jumped right into it, and signed on two clients immediately!
She enjoyed the work, especially the freedom and flexibility that comes with it. For example, she could travel with her family without restriction.
Then she found DOT & Company through her women’s networking group. The company places CAMs with agencies that need them and sees whether a fit exists.
When Jen had an interview with Lydia at Elle Marketing and Events, it was like providence called. The fit was instant and impeccable. Both sides knew that this was meant to be.
Some Work-Life Balance Tips That She Lives By
Jen, the go-getter she is, has clients not only with Elle Marketing and Events but also outside the company—around eight of them. This means that work-life balance is crucial for her, as she has a young child to care for.
Her keys to work-life balance are:
- Time blocking
- Setting boundaries
- Know your scope of work
- Know what you were hired for
If anything is outside of our scope, we charge for it. As simple as that.
What Downtime Looks Like
With a young child and winters in Wisconsin, Jen Guntner’s free time looks like this. In winter, there’s a lot of reading and relaxing on the couch. And in the summertime, it’s go time—with BBQs, bonfires, camping, and going to the parks with her family.
If you’d like to work with Jen Guntner and the other folks at Elle Marketing and Events, book your virtual consulting call today!