PR: Managing A Business When Sick

May 6, 2014 - PRLog -- In 2008, Jen Lew was the Communications Director for a nonprofit organization NYS ARTS, while undergoing chemotherapy treatments for non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Either of those would be challenging enough on its own, but she was also representing two local restaurants as a marketing manager on the side.

One afternoon while sitting in the hospital with a port in her chest receiving chemo, Jen Lew got a phone call from her boss at NYS ARTS informing her that the organization had lost their funding. She no longer had a job. It was difficult to have a proper reaction while in the midst of chemo pumping through her chest, but Jen went home later that day with a plan of action to run her own marketing and design company with her first two clients being Love Lane Kitchen and Pizzetteria Brunetti. That day [Jen Lew] Marketing & Design was born.

Jen Lew will be the first to say there were many difficulties in the first year of her new startup, cancer surely being one of them. In reflection, one challenge was her fortitude to live, breathe, and literally eat, the businesses she represented. She became an invaluable part of the infrastructure of both restaurants respectively, but she never fully developed systems and operations of [Jen Lew] Marketing & Design. "Any time I wasn't making doctor's appointments or receiving chemo, I was working on the branding and social media of these restaurants. I would sit at the counter at Love Lane Kitchen for hours, have dinner with the Brunetti's discussing plans to grow Pizzetteria Brunetti, and even 'relax' in bed with my laptop working until I fell asleep," says Jen of her start on this new path. "I never gave my own company the time that I did for the others."

Jen came to realize that her business was also a client and needed the same love and dedication to thrive. As time passed, Jen Lew hired a full time staff of four and developed procedures and strategies, allowing the company to grow. [Jen Lew] Marketing & Design is now celebrating five successful years in the industry, with a roster of more than 15 clients including top Corcoran associate real estate broker Sheri Winter Clarry, Renee's luxury clothing and furniture, Pfeifer Plastic Surgery of Long Island and New York City, Love Lane Kitchen, and Pizzetteria Brunetti of Westhampton and Manhattan. Her efforts have lead to successful marketing, design, branding, and social media campaigns specifically tailored to each clients' needs. Today [Jen Lew] Marketing & Design is the largest marketing company on the North Fork of Long Island, thanks in part to the hardworking and fun-loving staff and awesome clients.

The successes of Jen Lew have not gone unnoticed by her peers. She has been recognized as the "Best of the Best - PR and Marketing Firm" by Dan's Papers in 2012 and 2013. She has also been nominated by the Long Island Press for "Best Social Media."

For press inquiries or more information, contact Rachel Bosworth of [Jen Lew] Marketing & Design at rachel@jenlew.com or call 917.289.0749 x2. Find [Jen Lew] Marketing & Design online at f/jenlewmarketing, @jenlew, instagram.com/jenlewmarketingdesign, pinterest.com/jenlewpins, and linked.com/in/jenlewmarketing.