Meet Jami Jenkins

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jami Jenkins. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Jami with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
Growing up I witnessed my parents always doing their best. Not to be better than others, but because doing your best is the right thing to do. And doing your best doesn’t necessarily mean doing it perfectly – it means doing the best with the knowledge and skill that you have in that moment.

As a creative, that means doing my best (and pushing myself to do better) on each project on which I embark, but it also means doing my best to communicate with people, to manage my time and resources, and even remembering to “work” on myself.

People who work with me and know me personally have certainly heard me utter, “do it right the first time” and “why don’t they just do what they say they’re going to do”. For me, work ethic and doing your best go hand-in-hand. If you’re not producing what you promised – whether quality or quantity – then you need to work on your work ethic.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
If it’s creative, I probably have my hands in it. I have a degree in graphic design but am an interior and architectural designer. My designs have been published, shared on podcasts, and even shared on television, mostly those of our vacation rentals, Eco-Luxe Vacations.

Our three modern luxe cabins were built sustainably from the outside in and include luxury organic amenities such as organic bamboo sheets, organic French linens, and organic body products. We also tried to utilize as many local artists and woodworkers and use non-chemical performance fabrics on furnishings where possible.

Twelve34 House is our most luxe cabin and is mid-century-inspired, offering a totally unique cabin in the woods experience. This particular cabin is also certified accessible for those with mobility limitations.

GloCabin is our tiny cabin but lives large for its 450sf footprint. It’s been popular due to its romantic design.

The Carpenter’s Cabin recently was featured on Magnolia Network’s The Cabin Chronicles for it’s unique story and captivating design.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1 – Think outside the box 2 – Be inspired by others, but never copy
3 – Never stop learning

Inspiration is everywhere. Don’t limit yourself to what someone else has done. Ask yourself what it is about what they’ve done that draws you in – is it the color, the shape, the texture, the context? The conversation pit in our Carpenter’s Cabin has gotten attention from around the world, but it was inspired by the very first conversation pit built in the J.I. Miller home. Ours is cozier in size and more dramatic and moody, particularly since we wrapped it against a 12′ high faux concrete fireplace wall.

At 57, I got my general contractor’s license and built two new homes at the same time. It was very hard in so many ways but I also learned more than I ever imagined and wouldn’t trade that experience for the world. But maybe next time I’ll just do one at a time 🙂 . You’re never too old to learn something new.

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?
Knowing your strengths and weaknesses is key to running a successful business. It’s easier for us “doers” to want to do it all, but the truth is there are people who are far better than us to handle certain aspects. My husband handles the financials while I focus on the creative and day-to-day management. Our cleaning team is hands down better at preparing the same for our guests and my daughter is much better at communicating issues in a firm and caring way.

I try to stick to my strengths of spatial planning and design as well as managing the schedule. The more challenging task is to find the right people to fulfill those other roles that meet our expectations.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Scarlett Sagraves Photography Levi M Kelly Shelby Wilray

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