Today we’d like to introduce you to Wendell Jean-Jules. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Early Life & Education
A first-generation Haitian American born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts (The City of Champs). Wendell’s Football career ended in the 4th grade, after chipping his tooth going face first into a steel trash can whilst trying to catch a football. From that point, he understood the concept of being flexible and not letting failed attempts define him. Wendell found a new interest in basketball and track throughout middle school. However, growing up in a single-parent household wasn’t the easiest, especially after losing his older sister at a very early age. Wendell’s mother was a highly educated and poise woman that had very high standards for him. She instilled in him the importance of education, constantly reminding him that “Knowledge is Power, and once you have it no one can take it from you.” This resonated with Wendell thereon.
In May 2005, Wendell woke up to tears, ambulances, and his mother who passed away in her sleep. The thought of losing his mother was unreal. Following such tragedy, Wendell (aged 13) and his 5-year-old brother were legally adopted by his aunty Josie, as Wendell’s father claimed he was unable to take care of him.
After graduating from middle school, the following month, the transition from middle school to high school was very difficult, Wendell was not at his best academically, causing him to repeat his first year in high school. However, during his junior year, Wendell had a life-changing moment as he joined the travel club at his school and raised money to volunteer at a camp in Saint Croix. On that trip, Wendell shared his story to a group of children and his peers for the very first time, at the end of his story, a young boy approached Wendell with a big hug, expressing his admiration he said, “I want to be like you one day when I grow up”. He too lost his single-parent mother a few months earlier and he felt lost with no hope for his future. At that moment, Wendell realized his story can be used as an inspiration to others, but also as his motivation to succeed and make his family proud. Once Wendell got back from the volunteering trip to Saint Croix, he completed his last semester in high school elated and with the hope of going to college to better himself and make his mother proud.
As Wendell entered his Senior year of high school, he was faced with the challenge of getting into any of his college choices because of his low GPA. Community college was the only realistic options presented to him, however, after consecutively doing well each semester, he was given the opportunity to apply for a Foundation Year program at Northeastern University. The Foundation Year program is designed to give a selected number of recent High school graduates the opportunity to prove themselves in a 4-semester rigorous academic program. Wendell applied to the program and was given the opportunity to interview for a chance to be selected as one of the students. Unfortunately, Wendell’s GPA was below a 2.0, and ran the risk of rejection. With one and a half of a semester left, he was determined to bring his GPA up, and at the end of his 4th semester his GPA was over a 2.0. Wendell was awarded a MacBook computer from the principle of the school in a form of a scholarship for not allowing how he started high school be the faith of his destiny. Furthermore, Wendell’s achievement gained him admission into the foundation year program.
Wendell completed the Foundation year program at Northeastern University with a 3.7 GPA and was awarded a full-ride scholarship into the D’Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University majoring in Business Administration with a concentration in Entrepreneurship and Marketing. In 2013, Wendell went to study abroad at the Grenoble Graduate School of Business in France taking a semester of International Marketing courses and getting his certificate in Digital Marketing. Wendell graduated from Northeastern University in May 2015.
Earlier Business Ventures
Wendell’s entrepreneurship spirit began in high school, as he hosted his first social event for all the high school graduates in the city of Boston in 2010. He successfully headed the Marketing and Operations of the event bringing in over 1000 students under one roof. After a successful turnout Wendell and a friend of his from High School started their first business together called Trendy Promotions. This was an event and digital marketing agency designed to curate out-of-the-box events throughout the city of Boston. They worked with various organizations and venues to put on many events.
Love it or Like it – 2017 – 2020
Events and Marketing company specializing in planning and delivering events to clients from start to end.
RnB and Paint – 2018 – present
A national Paint night company infused with Live band and performances.
Le Rodeo – 2019
Food Truck Hall. Attempts were made to open Le Rodeo in 2019, however, due to location logistics and funding, an executive decision was made to postpone the operations of Le Rodeo for the future. Although this was disappointing, Wendell Jean-Jules views this as not a failure, but as an opportunity to learn and grow. He said, “everything I have learnt from, everything I attempted that did not work out is a lesson I needed to learn for the next big thing”.
WJJ Brands – 2019 – Current
After being let go from his Full Time Marketing Job in 2019, with the support of his Wife Tolu, Wendell decided to take a bold step into becoming a full-time entrepreneur and launching a Business Development, Digital, and Brand Marketing Agency in Raleigh-Durham, NC. He always had a job since High School while running a business on the side and for once he decided to take a chance on himself. The business has come a long way since 2019, and has expanded to Texas, and serviced businesses in several States, as well as countries, including the United Kingdom.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Yes and No. With every leap of faith comes challenges; however, through those challenges you build experiences, knowledge, and perseverance. I was always known by my friends and family to be a persevere and pride myself in always being a student. The transition of going full team only seemed easy because I have helped numerous entrepreneurs develop and successfully transition into their businesses full-time.
As for some of the struggles and obstacles faced along the way, below are a list of a few that have came to mind:
– Relinquish of creative power and trusting my team to have the same if not greater standards in the quality of work provided to every client we took on
– Inconsistency in income for the first few months of starting the business
– Realizing that I cannot be the jack of all trades
– Work life balance, as an entrepreneur some time I would work longer hours to meet deadlines and miss taking a break throughout the day
– Becoming disciplined in only working during my set business hours and not making every client request an urgent matter
– Finding a mentor that can support you through the business challenges/obstacles
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
WJJ Brands, LLC is a Business Development, Brand and Digital Marketing Agency that specializes in Web Design and Development, Graphic Design, SEO, Social Media Management, Email Marketing, Campaign Marketing and Business Development services. We have 30+ years of experience and have a team of individuals that are business savvy and creative. We have developed our business around not only supporting our clients through the outstanding work we provide them but giving back to our community of young entrepreneurs of color that also facing challenges that affect them in their businesses through our “Elise Legacy Program”. The “Elise Legacy Program (ELP)” (https://wjjbrands.com/elp/) is a self-funded initiative that was designed by Wendell to provide free counseling, business services and mentorship to selected young adults between the ages of 18 and 23 that are looking to start or have a business, but have gone through some sort of life changing event that is preventing them from thriving in their business but personal life. A percentage of every sale WJJ Brands receive from its clients goes into the ELP initiative to support these young adults. Wendell believes that healing the mind and providing the necessary resources will make it easier for these young adults to thrive their businesses.
Our Mission:
– Develop business strategies that allow every business to track and achieve their long-term goals and establish a strong brand presence that separates them from their competitors.
– Empower and educate businesses in delivering their messages to their audiences in the most effective marketing strategies.
– Inspire and motivate aspiring entrepreneurs by providing them with educational and work experiences that establishes them as leaders in the industry.
Our Values:
– Diversity – We welcome different ideas, strengths, interests & cultural backgrounds to collaborate and bring healthy perspectives to our mission.
– Empowerment – Our goal is to empower every business owner no matter how small or large the company is, to stand out and make an impact in their industry.
– Integrity – We strive to be honest and give positive feedbacks to our clients, whilst also upholding confidentiality, even when working with their competitors
-Ethical – In everything we do, we want to give back and support the efforts of future entrepreneurs through our mentorship and sponsorship program.
-Growth – As an agency, our team strives to work together, drawing from each person’s strengths to consistently focus on innovation and creativity.
Some of our clients’ testimonials:
David Foye:
When seeking a creative team to design a website for the launch of a new business, I interviewed three agencies. Though WJJ Brands were not the cheapest, I felt they would provide the best value. During these initial discussions, Wendell (the Founder of WJJ Brands) asked me as many questions as I asked him. I could definitely tell that he was trying to find the key insight that would fuel the promotion of my new venture. This was the first good sign. I was also impressed that WJJ provided a published guide that documented all services and what they would cost.
After providing a the firm with creative direction, they delivered a website that exceeded my expectations. It was also delivered before the agreed upon completion date. I’m extremely pleased with the work and look to work with them on other marketing projects moving forward!
Stoney Washington:
Working with WJJ Brands has been amazing. Their team was very professional and understanding. They were able to teach me the things that were needed in order for my business to excel. They were very compassionate and uplifting. I would definitely recommend anyone needing help with their business to try out WJJ Brands!
Sherryl Lapping
It has been a pleasure working with Wendell and Tolu Jean-Jules at WJJ Brands, LLC. Not only are they a delight to be with, they make our lives a lot easier. They help us tremendously with marketing and business plan design for the new center we are building called the McFadden Nature Center in Donalsonville, GA. Whether we work together in person or from their office in England, they help meet our needs painlessly and quickly. Every week, we seem to come up with new requests and are very impressed with discovering new talents they possess that contribute to our company’s success.
The rest of the review you can find on google
Angela Hagen
WJJ Brands has been a tremendous help to our company. Since reaching out to them for our web design we have been astonished at the additional ways that they have guided us. We were a small but growing company, and with their assistance our growing pains have been minimal. I can wholeheartedly recommend their business and their team.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Finding the right mentor is still a bit of a challenge for me. I do have a business mentor that has been supportive in providing advice when needed. However, I do think it is important to find a mentor that is in the same line of work/industry that you are in and has successfully navigated through many of the challenges you are facing or are getting ready to face. It is important to make a list of what qualities you want in a mentor, how you want to communicate with your mentor on an ongoing basis, and set goals for you and your mentor to discuss during every interaction.
What has worked well for me when it came to networking, was also being open to meet new people and genuinely get to know everyone’s story. Through those stories, it allows you to find commonalities and become more memorable rather than a salesperson trying to be an opportunist. Find local events where your target audience will typically be at and try to attend those events, and always ask for a referral from your clients because they can open up new opportunities and doors for you.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.wjjbrands.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/wjjbrands/
- Facebook: facebook.com/wjjbrands
- Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/wjjbrands
- Twitter: twitter.com/wjjbrands
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX-wi-QgR9x-H_eV_NpQ76w
- Other: instgram.com/wendelljeanjules | facebook.com/wendelljeanjules | linkedin.com/in/wendelljeanjules
Image Credits
Jonathan Newkirk
Emmanuel Ibitomisin
