We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Julie & Jon Hamm a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Julie & Jon, thanks for sitting with us today to chat about topics that are relevant to so many. One of those topics is communication skills, because we live in an age where our ability to communicate effectively can be like a superpower. Can you share how you developed your ability to communicate well?
I’d have to say my extensive traveling has helped me communicate effectively. I have spent a significant amount of my life living and working overseas. Because of this I have had to learn how to communicate with people from all different kinds of backgrounds and cultures. My time abroad has been an integral part of who I am today.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
My husband, Jon, and I breed French Bulldogs and Jon is a toxicologist. When Jon and I first met we had no clue that we would be breeding French Bulldogs. Jon had been working in the sciences for over 15+ years, and I had recently moved back to the United States when we first me. We got our first French Bulldog in 2019, and the funny thing is Jon had to convince me to get a French Bulldog. I have never been a small dog person, and he assured me that Frenchies are big dogs stuck in little dog bodies. He was not wrong! When we got our first pup, we knew we were going to breed her but we didn’t know that it would become our business. We absolutely loved the breeding process, so we decided to add some more pups to our home and that is when we started our breeding business. We have learned so much since we started breeding and we are happy to say that our dogs are family first and business second. All of our dogs live in our home just like a normal pet family, we just also happen to breed our dogs. We put our dog’s health and safety above everything else and I think that makes us stand out and our clients can see how much we love our pups.
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?
I would have to say that I am so incredibly thankful that Jon is a scientist! His knowledge of genetics has been quite helpful in making sure we make the best decisions for our breeding program. My customer service skills are another benefit to being successful. I have been in sales in some way or another for over 10 years. One of the things we try to do to make our clients feel like they are a part of the process is to update them with videos and pictures daily once they have put a deposit down. I want to make our clients feel like they are there for all the bid moments their puppies go through before they go to their furever home. Another quality we both have that has assisted us in our business is our compassion. We both care so much about our dogs and the families they go to and that shows in our client interactions.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
We are always looking for people or business to partner with. People that we are interested in are other French Bulldog breeders who are interested in co-owning one of our pups with us. We also are always keeping an eye out for people that want to be a guardian home. Essentially a Guardian Home is a family that wants a puppy but cannot afford the prices. Guardian Homes are homes that keep their female pup intact and let us breed her three times. Once the breeding’s are done they live with their family who has raised them from 8 weeks old. Businesses we are interested in partnering with are ones that make dog toys, clothes, and supplements. We are always looking for ways to enhance our puppy packs for clients and love working with local businesses to promote their products to our puppy families.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jandjfrenchiesllc.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jandjfrenchies/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JandJFrenchies
Image Credits
Julie Hamm
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