Today, we’d like to introduce you to Jen Malloy.
Jen, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My path is a long and winding one, like many of us. I could never pick just one major in college, and that has kind of set the course of my whole life – my professional career has included event planning, senior living marketing, now entrepreneurship, and as much as one can consider yoga teaching an actual career that you can semi-support yourself on, I did that, too.
I’d love to say that I know where my path will go from here, but I have no clue, and in many ways, I really like the uncertainty of that. I have so many interests and hobbies, and I love the idea of them forming a future for me. For now, I love running Craft & Communicate with my husband and love supporting our team and clients. I’m incredibly lucky.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I would be shocked to meet anyone who can say their road has been smooth. Of course, mine has not… when we first began Craft & Communicate, we had no way of knowing if this would work or if we’d be able to support ourselves.
The first 3 years were incredibly rocky and uncertain and filled with personal heartbreak and loss. The next 5 have been great as far as business goes, and with that, we now have a team of 20 employees, and we support over 150 senior living communities. That is absolutely amazing to me, and I’m so grateful.
That alone brings so many challenges… hiring, letting people go, building the right team, finding the right leaders, attempting to bring on VPs many times over, managing client requests that are sometimes outside of our realm, keeping up with the digital landscape, automation, and AI… the list goes on and on. I could add a lot of drama, but I’ll leave that out.
My path has been filled with obstacles – every day is filled with obstacles as a business owner. This is not for the faint of heart. And I still would not have chosen another way.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next, you can tell us a bit more about your business.
Our business supports senior living communities with their marketing, digital presence, public relations, and website development. I like to say that we’re different from other agencies in that the owners still work in the business. Every day, I answer client requests, and my husband leads our web developers in enhancing our offerings.
We have never taken a day off, and I don’t mean in the vacation way. I mean in the way that answers the following: what services do we need to offer to better our relationship with our clients and enhance how they communicate with their clients? We stay close to our clients to understand their needs, what campaigns we need to develop to help them succeed, and to make sure nothing is lost along the way. We lead with heart and with accountability, and that has never changed, not from day 1.
I’m proud that we have several clients that have been with us for over 6 years. I’m incredibly proud that many of them are at capacity in occupancy or over 90% occupied. I fully know that this is not just us: their sales teams, operations teams, and leadership are essential in their growth, and yet, the seniors who call their communities home many times would not have heard of them without our marketing and public relations support.
We’re literally a team: our client’s success is our success, and full communities lead to happy seniors who get to enjoy great dining, activities, programs, and care support. Full communities create the best places for seniors to live, without a doubt. So, helping our clients reach full occupancy is what it’s all about.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I was a shy, quiet kid, but I would always speak up if I needed to stand up for myself or someone I loved.
I spent my childhood reading, writing, listening to music, drawing, daydreaming, and working on various art projects. Most of my time was spent alone, although I have wonderful memories of being with my parents and brother. I was a cheerful, good kid; I preferred to be alone or with one other close friend.
As I got older, in high school specifically, I felt like an outcast, but it never got me down, it was just something I noticed… and I think quite frankly, I preferred being the outcast. The popular kids were interested in things I was never interested in, and there was no company like the company of my mind, music, or a good book.
I am exactly the same today.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://craftandcommunicate.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/craftandcommunicate/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferbmalloy/
Image Credits
Amber Shumake
