Tricres welcomed Jenny as a Tricres Partner in February 2021 and brings with her an exceptional background in business straddling both sides of the Atlantic.

Originally from Florida, USA, Jenny made the ambitious decision to head straight from school and dove headfirst into her career. Tackling the largest territory in the Southeastern United States as the youngest sales director for a retail company, Jenny delivered the top productivity, profits, and overall sales during her 10 years in that role.

Going Solo

Looking for a fresh challenge, Jenny relocated to Switzerland and began working in the recruitment industry for a UK company that specialised in Life Sciences and the professional IT sectors. A year into that position in 1999, it soon crystallised to her that there was a gap in the market and that she would be the right person to take that on and do it on her own with a partner. Audacious? Yes, and it proved to be a shrewd decision.

The focus and objectives of this new venture were to focus on the customer service levels for specialised services that larger firms could not provide. It would still enable Jenny to remain engaged with the international players in the IT and Life Sciences sectors, but the engagement level was paramount. 17 years later, the company was sold in 2016 to the largest private staffing company globally, and for three more years Jenny was involved in a CEO and Managing Director capacity during the acquisition and exit strategy.

It’s a passion for enabling and supporting people to be their best, both in business and their personal life, that drives Jenny. She can help implement all of the lessons learned from running her own successful business that grew exponentially. At this stage in her career, this is what feels right and provides the most fulfillment.

Key Skills

What are the skills Jenny brings to the Tricres table for potential clients? At a core level, it’s all about people and sales management, diversity, engagement, managing the progression of change, and big, broad picture thinking. Strategy, communication, and driving change are what excites her.
Her ideal clients and niche for consulting would be those businesses based in the US/UK/Germany/Switzerland that are focused on the growth phase, and also those in need of figuring out their exit strategies. Jenny has been through it all, and her own exit was a multiple years, multi-layered process that is not as simple and straightforward as many think. Preparation and a vision for this are key.

Biggest Learn in Business So Far?

One of the biggest learns for Jenny in her business career thus far is regarding succession planning.
Jenny reveals, “The one big mistake I learned early on from all of my experience over the last few decades was not to succession plan from within. So many companies fail to do this, and I learned the hard way. When growth is wildly accelerating, the instinct many have is to outsource and bring someone new in. But you need to ensure a succession plan from within where possible because another skill is being able to identify your own employee’s strengths. Seeing where they can fit in as the growth continues.
Secondly, allowing toxic people to stay in the business because of top sales or a strategic relationship with a client is another definite no. Staying objective for the good and wellbeing of the entire company is hard, but it’s the right thing to do.”

Outside of work…

Jenny lives in Basel, Switzerland, and has two daughters who are professionals also living in Switzerland.