I was already a few years into my new career focused on philanthropy for families in a cancer experience when I met the principal players forming JTWO. Divine discontent had given me courage to launch off the path of the typical “dot orgs” to join with some friends who also wanted to make life easier for these families. We were fairly new at our endeavor but we knew we had to do the work to create our brand and to be able to communicate our unique offerings in a contemporary way.

So it was really fun to meet Justin Jarrett, coming in hot out of college with a dream to build out a non-profit component to his business and his passion of making films for what he called Projects That Matter. Video and branded web content were becoming must-haves in the non- profit arsenal. I liked his ideas and I loved his passion.

For a couple of years it was easy for me to decide on projects worth the expertise that JTWO brought to the table. I immediately recognized Travis Capacete’s talent for editing, creativity and sales as well. Between the two partners, I felt safe and excited to hand over the creative reins for the branding I needed- and it continued successfully, even when I changed companies to further my own development. Referring to the guys and their team to others in the industry was not only done with confidence but it became one of my favorite things to talk about!

In 2012, I recognized that I had probably one summer left to stop everything and just be a mom to my daughter graduating college.

So I did a free fall, knowing that when my daughter left our nest, I’d just KNOW what to do next.

And I did know. The day Justin and Travis came out to meet me for coffee was the beginning of a beautiful co-working relationship, working together to develop more Projects That Matter. They’d have the exact type of projects they wanted and I was able to continue to serve the community. It was all heart.

This relationship continued until my newborn twin grandsons entered the world. It took no courage at all to jump to the side of my work to spend my time taking care of them while my daughter and her husband work full time.

What’s funny is that, a year later, JTWO is still never far from my mind. Their work and impact on the world is just that great. I went from being such a rookie in every single technical aspect of the JTWO business to eventually understanding and admiring what a huge multi-layered pool of talent is required to create brands, decode emotions and develop tools that boil down to one golden nugget: the story. And the end product? It’s magic. It moves mountains and slays dragons. I’ll always be the biggest cheerleader for JTWO. It’s in my blood and if you’re in the crew–you’re family.

PS – I still don’t do call times before 9 AM and if there’s not a Marriott, I’m likely not going on the trip….