Meet Jenny Selber Gustafson

We were lucky to catch up with Jenny Selber Gustafson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jenny, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?

Most immediately, my answer would be my parents and my older brother. While many would call each a “workaholic” at some point in their careers, what I saw was a deep passion for and pursuit of excellence in their respective fields. My father worked tirelessly for various oil and gas and private equity organizations where he was not only loyal, but proved to be an incredible mentor and member of various leadership teams. He is one of most respected experts in his industry and was deeply valued by his employers and employees alike.

While both of my parents worked, the case of the working mother is a unique one and my mother balanced working motherhood beautifully. She was (and still is) a beacon within the nonprofit landscape, having served as the CEO of a groundbreaking nonprofit in the 1990s, then overseeing a corporate foundation, advocating for people living with differing abilities and more until she ultimately founded her own consultancy, where her skills and passions enable small businesses and nonprofit organizations grow.

My brother and I certainly learned our work ethic from our parents, AND, given that his career began before mine, he was hugely instrumental in showing me what hard work within the workplace looks like. An entrepreneur and small business owner, my brother puts people and relationships first and has made transparency vital to his company’s mission. He and his business partner have done a fantastic job growing their business, which has allowed him to explore additional ventures where he can continue to showcase his value. Of course, he also works his butt off while raising my adorable nephew and nieces.

Ultimately, these three were fantastic examples of investing in one’s self by doing great work, being amazing parents and doing good all the while.

The answer may seem odd, but I’d say my work ethic began when my great grandparents’ generation and the generation above them escaped Europe and the dangerous pogroms. They knew what was coming and were able to become American citizens before the atrocities of the Holocaust. Like so many descendants of immigrants, my family and our Jewish tradition have always put great emphasis on academic and professional achievement. The goal was not merely to survive, but to thrive. I work tirelessly and passionately because I love what I do, but also because I love who I do it for, I love who I did it with and I love the difference I aim to make.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

In 2018, I founded Like Minds Communications, a boutique PR and digital marketing agency that represents mission-driven businesses. We lean into the power of marketing and communications to amplify the work that nonprofit organizations, social enterprises and businesses that want to utilize profits to generate good. We only take on clients whose missions we believe in and where we are confident we can add value. Fortunately, our clients believe in our mission, our expertise and our individual team members, as well.

When so much around us can feel so dark, divisive and, quite frankly, depressing, it’s truly exciting to work with brands and businesses that are putting so much good into the world. Whether it’s technology as a driver of equitable education, building awareness and opportunities for people living with disabilities, providing resources for child victim’s of sexual abuse, offering joyful experiences to Texans with challenging illnesses or disabilities and so so much more, the clients we work with are making a true impact through their work…and we get to be a part of that. It’s also pretty damn cool to be doing it alongside an all-female team.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Generosity and appreciation:
I was fortunate enough to have many established professionals and peers open up their “little black books” for me and make introductions. Whether it was for potential partnerships, informational interviews, internships, my own hiring needs, my own business development or any number of reasons, so many people (especially women) around me were generous with their time, their relationships and their knowledge. AND I didn’t let this go unnoticed. I didn’t realize it then, but am confident so many of these relationships flourished not only because they had a gut feeling about or a belief in me and my potential, but also because I thanked them. So much of the professional I am today is because someone made space for me to learn, to grow, to be a part of their networks, to lean on for advice, etc. I now pay it forward as often as I can. No coffee date or information interview is a waste of time and I keep this generosity at the forefront of my daily personal and professional life. And, of course, a “thank you” goes a long way!

Empathy:
Yes, business is often about making money, but the people who do this work aren’t robots. I’ve been told so often that I can’t treat my business like a nonprofit (which, if I were a nonprofit, I would find pretty damn offensive). Sure, I need to make a profit to be able to support myself, my family and my team, but I cannot erase the humanity that exists within each person I work with. Knowing that my team members show up to work each day as their whole self enables me to do the same. It goes such a long way to recognize that someone may not be doing their best work this week or may need patience, grace or a hug because they are suffering from another migraine episode or they’re caring for an aging parent or they’re devastated by the news of the day…and on and on and on. Likewise, it is so much easier to assume good intent and recognize the humanity in others surrounding us. For instance, if a client or media member never cracks a smile during a meeting it would be easy to assume that they don’t like us or thought the meeting was a waste of time. But we can also try to understand what they may be dealing with that day: did their kid have a temper tantrum as they were getting them out of the door, did their boss reprimand them publicly, are they suddenly doing twice as much work, etc.? By trying to understand and be empathetic to who surrounds us and what they’re going through, the work we do and who we do it with is so much more enjoyable and meaningful.

Adaptability:
Adaptability can show up in so many ways, but for me a willingness to take feedback and grow from it and to remain flexible have been the most impactful. While it’s never fun to hear that what you’re doing may not be good enough or done the right way, it’s only through trying AND failing that we are able to improve. To help soften the blow of negative feedback, I’d often go through self-assessments. Assuming you’re generally self-aware, it’s really comforting to go into a formal evaluation or review knowing what negatives to expect in advance. Formal review or not, every small edit, difficult discussion or idea that’s shot down is an opportunity to have a more meaningful discussion around the “why” and the best path forward.

Adaptability has also been hugely important as so much of the world, and the professional landscape, has changed and will continue to do so. When I first began working in communications, Facebook was only for college students and Twitter (now X) was just making an entrance into the digital sphere. The terms content creator and influencer had not yet been defined, because we didn’t know these career paths would even exist. Print and TV were still the prominent forms of news media and most consumers trusted their media sources. On top of all of these changes, no one could imagine taking their work outside of the office. Of course, all of this has changed and continues to do so. Once you add in a pandemic, increasing social and political division and crises, more and more digital connectivity and the list goes on and on, the best path forward is the flexible one. Being able to pivot quickly but thoughtfully and to find solutions the next time sh*t hits the fan (which it will) will take you far.

Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?

Because Like Minds works specifically with mission-driven businesses, our ideal client is a non-profit, social enterprise OR a for profit business that would like to do good and get involved in their communities. These three types of business, on the surface, are ideal clientele, but there is so much more we like to consider.

First, do you understand and value the work we do? Are you hoping we’ll be able to generate quick transactions or hide bad customer service or do you recognize that brand awareness takes time and that your internal team needs to be a part of the process (our clients know it’s the latter)? Do you value our time? Are you willing to pay for said time and expertise? Do you trust us?

Are you aligned with our values? While we do our best not to make judgments around individual views and actions, it is important to our team that the clients we work with respect what makes us “us” and vice versa. Generally this looks like: recognizing the strengths and passions of our team members regardless of gender, sexuality, ability, age, religion, etc….and even celebrating what makes each of us unique. This can also look like alignment with our social values. While our job is to reach a client’s target audience, if this audience is one we cannot identify with or feel safe around, we’re likely not a good fit. For instance, as a group of empowered women, our current team is very passionate about reproductive health. While I’m sure there are many wonderful organizations with missions that speak to the values of so many, our team wouldn’t be a great fit for a nonprofit that didn’t support reproductive choice.

Do you want us to be a part of your larger team and will you let us do just that? We do our best work when our clients let us into their worlds. When we’re treated as part of or as an extension of their teams, everyone wins. They can trust us fully and trust that we believe in and understand their mission the same way their internal team does and we get to see the real life work and stories that make our clients stand out.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.likemindstalk.com
• Instagram: @likemindstalk
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/likemindscommunications
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennyselbergustafson/