By Jill Roberts / December 22, 2019
I was contacted last week by a student in an entrepreneur program at Litchfield High School. He was interested in asking questions about my business and career. He heard about An Average Jill through his Mom, who I met years before when our kids attended pre-school together. I was honored to be considered someone who might offer informative career guidance, and delighted to assist a young person with a curiosity for business.
He conducted the interview by providing a list of questions via email. A few days later, over a morning coffee, I took poignant care to answer each one. It was a pleasure to pause and recognize the path that has led to where my career is today. Below is the full interview, which provides a brief backstory and the small synchronicities that have contributed to the formation of both An Average Jill LLC and An Average Jill Granola LLC.
1) What got you interested in business as a career?
I didn’t do well through most of High School, until my Senior year when I took accounting as a substitute for a math class. Accounting is more about organizing numbers, as opposed to formulas and equations, so as someone who appreciates order, I naturally excelled. Although I originally started college as an undeclared major, I eventually gravitated to accounting and business courses, because they came easy to me. I graduated with an accounting degree from Central Connecticut State University in 1996.
2) What inspired you to create An Average Jill?
As my kids started to look ahead to life after High School, the advice I would offer was not to base a career decision on potential earnings, but rather to follow their passion; “If you do what you love everything else will fall into place,” was the advice I offered. Although I enjoyed working in the accounting profession, I always felt like I was missing out on the action that takes place out front of a business. So, I decided to take my own advice and pursue my passion for writing and the outdoors.
3) How did you develop your products?
Originally, I had no idea for a product, and very little direction, but an incident along a hiking trail back in 2017 would inspire me to create a video to share the story. That video, led to a YouTube Channel, which led to a website where I could share my writing and nature photography, which led to the idea of selling granola. Actually, it would be my friends and family who would encourage me to pursue selling my homemade granola, but it fit with the brand that I was slowly developing—Granola is associated with us nature-lover types.
4) In the beginning, what were your goals and aspirations? Do you have goals for your business now?
In the very beginning, before I had a product idea, my only intention was to share what I found beautiful in nature and people through writing and the hiking videos I created. There was already enough negative circulating the internet and on social media, and I wanted to add something more positive.
The mission I’ve since adopted for An Average Jill is to promote time outdoors, positive attitudes and mindful living. An Average Jill Granola is a branch off that mission, along with the framed nature photography and inspirational quotes that I sell mostly at farmer’s markets and festivals. I currently have use of a commercial kitchen at a local deli, but I’m in the process of building a commercial kitchen of my own, before I expand the granola business further into stores across Connecticut.
5) Did you face any obstacles? What kinds?
Obstacles are opportunities in disguise; You can’t grow and operate a business without encountering a few. Since I’ve never worked in the food industry before, navigating State and Federal food service laws and regulations is entirely new to me. But I’ve pulled from my past experience as a compliance auditor to interpret the applicable laws and regulations, and I’m learning as I go. It also helps to align myself with people more knowledgeable in areas than me, and ask a lot of questions.
Every job that I’ve ever held from selling apples and corn at a local farm when I was 14, to a High School sales position at JCPenney, to the mailroom at CIGNA where I worked through college, to my first job as a college graduate for the State of Connecticut Auditors of Public Accounts, and later as the Accounting Manager for the local resort at Winvian Farm, have all in some way prepared me for the challenges of owning a business.