“2020 is our year!” countless Millennials cried across the country as the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve. Fast forward one global pandemic, a tanking economy and innumerous layoffs later, and many of us were lamenting our unbelievable naivete as we struggled to pick up the pieces left behind in the wake of COVID-19.
That is how Christina and I found ourselves suddenly unemployed in one of the worst economies since the 2008 recession, desperately trying to figure out our next move. So, what were two down and out girls cut loose into a dwindling job market to do? (Trust us, we understand how much this sounds like the premise of an ABC Family sitcom that never made it past the pilot). Why, team up to start our own business, of course! Call it fate, impeccable timing or plain, dumb luck, but we found at each other at just the right moment. As many great first dates start, we met on the beach for a (socially distanced) hang out to feel each other out. The sun was high, the waves were calm and the stage was set for a wonderful partnership. As the late, great Humphrey Bogart famously uttered in Casablanca, “This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
And thus, CJPR was born…then the real work began. The next few weeks consisted of pooling our combined recourses to create a business plan that not only worked for us, but for potential clients that had been just as afflicted by pandemic. Not a classic strategy, but our approach has been anything but traditional. From taking Zoom calls in bathrooms to instituting mandatory summer Fridays (being your own boss is hard, y’all) we’re making it up as we go. But that’s exactly what makes this business so special!
To be perfectly frank, this journey has not all been rainbows and sunshine. We’ve worked around the clock, hit some hard walls and carefully navigated an incredibly sensitive time in our society together. But, if there’s anything we’ve learned from these past few months, it’s that growth is a painful, but beautiful necessity of life, and this is just the beginning for us.