The Costco Connection

cutting and perming their church friends’ hair.

But it was her mom’s part-time occupation that inspired her first true business venture. As children, Jennifer and Erica sat in the car while their mother cleaned homes. So at age 16, Jennifer started a housecleaning service, taking Erica as her partner. They put up fliers around town and split the $50 they charged to clean a whole house, which at the time seemed like a lot of money. Adams says they used their earnings for food, clothes and other necessities.

An unforeseen tragedy

The sisters had been running their business for
three years when Erica was hospitalized after suffer-
ing a two-week migraine. There, doctors discovered
that Erica had a stage 4 cancerous brain tumor.
“They said she had about three months to live, and
literally three months to the day, she died,” says
Adams. “It was terrible. She died on May 10. I had
just turned 19, but she was still 17.”
It was an unimaginable loss for Adams’ family,
and the experience still affects her daily. Despite the
pain, Adams says losing her sister inspired her to be
a better person. “[Her death] gave me more empa-
thy and more understanding of people’s situations
and I think I became a more well-rounded person
from it. She was so light-hearted and spirited and
would say whatever was on her mind, and take the
time to talk to people and engage. It was genuine.”

Dream a big dream

Not long after Erica’s death, Adams was in need of a change. She handed the cleaning business over to her mom when she landed a job as a receptionist for an accounting firm in downtown Portland. The company had a high-end clientele of executives and business owners, which she says exposed her to a world with options and high achievers that she hadn’t known before. “The religion we were growing up in [discour-aged us] from going to college. So I never saw that as an option for myself,” she says.

As she built relationships with clients, She was ruminating over this newfound revelation when she spotted an interior design trade school. Her experience from housekeeping and helping her mom build furniture led to a natural attraction. She called the school on a whim and landed an interview with owner Jan Springer, who not only accepted Adams into her program, but also took her under her wing. “I owe so much to her, I can’t even tell you. She taught me how to market, how to have confidence in my ability,” Adams tells The Connection.

Her first project came when a couple called the school asking for a student to decorate their home. Springer gave Adams the job, but Adams says she had so little confidence in her own abilities that she was afraid to charge more than $300.

Springer encouraged her to send a letter to every person she knew to build a clientele. After some persuasion, Adams’ boss at the accounting firm allowed her to send a letter to his client list, which proved to be a career launching pad. As word of mouth spread,

Company:

Jennifer Adams Worldwide Inc.

Employees: 12

Address: 18801 N. Thompson Peak Parkway, Suite 380, Scottsdale, AZ 85255

Phone: 1-800-480-1784

Email: generalinquiries@ jenniferadams.com

Website:

www.jenniferadamshome.com

Products at Costco: Sheets, furniture and clothing available through Special Event Roadshows; furniture and bedding available on Costco.com.

Comments about Costco:

“As a woman entrepreneur,
Costco’s really been wonderful
to me. They’ve given me the
opportunity to prove myself as
a vendor. You don’t have to be
huge, like Pepsi or Coke. They’ll
still find a way to support even
smaller suppliers.”
—Jennifer Adams

supplier profıle

Story continued on page 28

Above: Adams films a segment for The Better Show in her home kitchen.

n
r o
e
h ga
-
ae
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ei
es
cc
i
r a s
e Jennifer Adams in her
home office. Inset: Adams
(right) and her sister Erica
(center) with their mom,
circa 1977.