Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Shawley.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My mother started what I now call my business about 15 years ago. She built it from the ground up, and her entire business model was structured around taking an alternative approach to technology assistance. She made a clear point to cultivate relationships with her customers based on mutual respect and understanding versus the often condescending “I’m smarter than you” approach taken by so many in the IT realm. She offered house calls and on premise business help. And she developed a fabulous and loyal client base in the process.
In December of 2017, my brother and his youngest daughter passed away in a house fire. Almost immediately, I began fostering his two surviving children, and in 2019 I fully adopted them. It was around this time that my stepfather was offered an early retirement, and my mom decided she’d like to retire early as well.
After watching me battle to manage my structured work life around all of the things being a single mom demanded of me, my mother decided to offer me her business. When she approached me with the option, she said that she didn’t want to shut the whole thing down, but she didn’t trust anyone besides me to treat her customers with the kindness and respect they deserved. She also knew owning my own business would afford me the flexibility I needed to successfully navigate life with my kids. And, despite the fact that I had absolutely zero experience in the IT field at that time, she was confident I was intelligent enough to learn the trade.
We started the journey in February of 2020, and we all know what the following year looked like… But, even though the initial stages were somewhat unorthodox and not as ideal as we would have hoped for in a transition/learning phase, she was right: I was able to learn the trade, and my mom fully retired in September of 2021.
Today, I am operating the business as closely as I can to how my mother always envisioned it. I have maintained her customer base and have even watched it expand significantly over the years. And, best of all, it has most definitely given me the flexibility I needed to be the best mom I can be for my kids.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Absolutely not.
Covid was a mess. I was trying to learn how to troubleshoot computers while also trying to learn how to homeschool a 1st grader and a 5th grader. Most of my effort for the first year or so went towards the latter, so when my mom and I were finally able to work hands on together, we only had a few months before she retired.
And, I really had no idea what I was doing. My mom was certainly there for me after she retired as a sounding board and as my personal tech support when I truly couldn’t figure something out on my own; but I spent the majority of the next couple of years just independently diving into this world of technology that I knew so little about, but that my mother’s customers entrusted me to help them with. I worked extra hours from home most evenings and weekends for a very long time — trying, failing, trying again, failing again…until I finally succeeded on each particular job.
Eventually, it all became almost second nature, and today I feel confident and empowered with every new challenge. But the road here? No. It was not smooth.
As you know, we’re big fans of Alt Computer and Tech Support. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
What I am most proud of and love the most about my job are the relationships I’ve built with my customers. The entire approach to the business is making people feel seen and heard and NOT STUPID when they’re having technology issues.
I don’t specialize in anything. It’s sort of like the jack of all trades, master of none scenario. Almost all of my work is done by appointment, and some days I could start with helping an 80 year old woman traverse her Facebook account, move on to troubleshooting a college kid’s gaming PC and end with a networking issue at a small business.
So software, hardware, basic networking, new computer setup, backups, printers, residential and small business, I do pretty much everything except in-depth networking and in-depth systems management. I also do go to people’s homes and onsite to businesses, which is a pretty rare thing in the IT world these days.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
This is going to sound really weird, but the more I learn about physics and the universe and consciousness and our brains and how all of those things interact together, the more grounded I become and the more aware I am of my everyday thoughts and actions. All of the connectedness, how it can influence me and how I can influence it, is both fascinating and powerful. I’ll watch or read anything I can get my hands on in those fields. Nautilus magazine and Star Talk podcast are two of my favorites.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.altcom.tech
