Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jean Blackwell Font. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jean, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
As a young person, I wanted to be an “artist” but didn’t really know what that meant. When I graduated high school summa cum laude, I should have gone to college to pursue a degree in the arts. However, I was a 17 year old unaccompanied minor without a clear direction of how to get to college; all I could do was get a job or three and try to support myself.
Along the way, I took whatever job I could until I landed an admin position in a home cleaning service. The owners saw something in me and gave me a chance and, from there, I was always able to get administrative positions. I worked my way into the hospitality industry and worked for department heads and general managers, and found that I had a social disposition and a way of anticipating the needs of others.
I started taking opportunities to show artwork whenever and wherever I could; eventually I began creating art shows to show the work of my community of artists (always including my own art, too.) I didn’t know it then, but I was moving closer to my purpose, finding ways to align my work life with my passion and power.
At every opportunity, I found ways to grow my skillset, developing new ways to connect with others, and always lifting up artists. I learned social media and marketing, built websites, and formed meaningful relationships with industry leaders.
By my forty’s, I was owning my “artist” identity and working with The Betsy Hotel as part of their Arts and Philanthropy Team. I always say I got that job because I spoke two languages, hotel and art, having moved through both spaces successfully. That position moved me even closer to my true path and purpose and helped me to align my career identity with my artist identity.
Leaving The Betsy was a difficult decision, but stepping into a leadership position with the Arts & Business Council of Miami turned out to be the final piece of the puzzle for finding my purpose. This is where the stars aligned and I began to understand what the Miami arts community needed to thrive. Moving full steam ahead into developing Font Squared, a small business dedicated to visual artists, while working full time with ABC was invigorating and life-changing, until in July 2020 when I experienced a different kind of life-changing event.
I had to step away from working altogether for many months because of a serious accident that has taken years to recover from. The accident had a silver lining, because it forced me to take inventory of my life and its meaning. I now know that every step of my life was leading closer to my purpose of serving visual artists through the cache of digital marketing skills and event management tools that I have gathered during my professional career.
Font Squared is a small for-profit business that serves as an economic driver empowering young people as they enter the workforce while creating jobs at a living wage with equal pay, with an ethnically diverse team that spans from Maryland to Miami, Jamaica to Peru. CollaboARTive is an emerging not-for-profit focused on creating sustainable studio practices for visual artists through the resources provided. Artists are paid for their work and are offered affordable, subsidized studio space as they build careers.
As the cofounder and director of these two businesses, I support the arts at many levels, in all that I do. Today, I can say that I have found my place of power and I am rooted in my purpose.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am an artist first; everything I do flows from that purpose. My artwork and creative curiosity have always paved my way to new opportunities and new adventures. I found my place at the Eden Roc Hotel back in the 1990’s by luck, and that lead me to a 25-year-long career in hospitality administration. Department leaders allowed me to explore new technologies, like email and social media. My curiosity and willingness to learn gave me the chance to use these tools and become the person who had the answers. Beta-testing and training others became part of my favorite tasks in administrative work.
This is how Font Squared came to be – by becoming a Squarespace Trainer from the very beginning of the website platform’s launch and using my curiosity and expertise to get certified. I was able to create a website for my own artwork and for friends. Friends became clients, and the company grew. My curiosity remains one of the driving forces behind staying engaged and informed as the technology continues to rapidly evolve.
CollaboARTive came out of a need for studio space; my husband Iggy and I both needed a place to make art. The opportunity was presented to us and we took it. Trying it out for one year turned into three years, and now we operate nine studios with ten artists, going on 7 years.
My curiosity continues to drive me, and I hope to see more growth of both companies in the coming years.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Curiosity has always been important; I want to see how this works, or what happens when I do that. I believe my creative sensibilities also allow me to find more than one solution to every problem. Finally, I really trust that if you can envision something, you will make it manifest.
We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?
In 2023, my word was “delegate”. I spent time and energy trying to find ways to delegate tasks to team members, and I worked to build my team. In the past, I ran Font Squared on my own primarily, with support from my husband and co-founder Iggy. We both had full time jobs, so running the extra company operations was time consuming and exhausting, while also meaningful and important.
In addition, with the recovery from my accident I found that I was unable to work the way I could before; delegation was the only way to succeed and grow. What I have realized in this process is that each team member brings a new vision and creative energy to the project. Designs, social media campaigns, and email marketing all have richer, more amplified impact for our clients when injected with the diversity of a team.
More projects can be tackled than I could have ever done on my own, and the vibrant approach that shines through has strengthened my company. By delegating, I have freed myself to grow the company and rest when necessary. Meanwhile my amazing team is providing improvements to their respective projects in ways that I could not have imagined.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://www.fontsquared.com
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeanbfont/
