AS owner and managing director of emedia Bermuda, Jennifer Ward has overseen impressive growth at the small company she started out of her living room. The company is approaching its ten-year anniversary and continues to expand its staff and its services.

Ms Ward actually started her career in the hospitality industry after undertaking an Associates Degree at Bermuda College. "I managed restaurants, including Rosa's Cantina, and initially thought that my career would continue in that direction," she said. "The management and business skills that I learned through my schooling in that industry have transferred extremely well to managing projects and running a business."

Ms Ward started the company with her former partner out of the couple's home. "My former partner was doing freelance graphic design, but he was struggling with the account management and client services aspect," she said. "We realised that our skill sets complimented each other very well and could be the basis of a new business."

Thus the company was born in 2000 as a boutique design studio offering web design, quality service and a competitive fee structure. Later the same year, emedia took over a building in front of Ms Ward's home offering a convenient location — and the return of the living room.

The company landed its first large client in 2004, taking over the advertising and marketing for Argus Insurance. "This account really put emedia on the map and established us as an agency that could hang with the big guys," Ms Ward said.

In 2006, Ms Ward bought out her former partner and company's growth has remained steady. With that growth has come the ability to take on more complex projects.

"We currently have six full-time staff including two graphic designers, a web development manager, two account managers and myself," Ms Ward said, and this summer the company will also be adding a full-time public relations and sales manager.

"This will give us the ability to take on more clients and allow even greater flexibility in the division of labour within the company."

She is proud of her staff and that emedia is able to offer such a diverse range of in-house services. "We are very fortunate in the fact emedia's staff are skilled in a variety of areas," she said. "Our web developer also studied visual arts, so she can help with the design process when needed. I can take on design and account management tasks when the need arises. One of our account managers has a background in writing, so she also handles our PR and copywriting. It's nice that while everyone has their official titles and official roles, they are able to use their other talents to the benefit of our clients."

As a result the company has little need to outsource tasks. "Where we used to need to outsource for web development or public relations, we now have full-time staff members who are able to provide these services," Ms Ward said. "At this point, the only outsourcing we ever really need to do is for photography, and we can often offer this service as well."

Being her own boss, puts Ms Ward in a position many would envy, however, she admits it has its drawbacks as well. "One of the biggest challenges of owning your own business is a lack of real time off," she said. "Even when I'm on vacation, I always need to check in at the office because, ultimately, it all comes down to me if something goes wrong.

"The other big challenge, which has actually eased a bit in the past two years, as the team has really solidified, is the level and range of responsibilities involved in being an entrepreneur. Running your own business seems glamorous, but it's a lot of hard work."

The strengthened team has allowed her to free up more time for proposals and strategising. "When I first get in, after I've made sure that Sebastian, my cat and the office mascot, has made it from my house next door to show up for work on time, I often meet with the team to discuss the status of projects and set our priorities for the day," Ms Ward said when asked to describe her typical day.

"Now that we have two dedicated account managers, I do far less account management than I used to and my days are most often spent creating proposals and meeting with potential new clients. There is no real set pattern for a day. I could be running in an out of town picking up materials or meeting with clients, or I could be in the office completing the less glamorous administrative duties that keep the business running.

"Our clients include small, individual start-ups as well as some of Bermuda's most respected large companies, and pretty much everything in between. We are able to meet the needs of those clients who require extensive marketing plans and coordination of campaigns, but we also handle one-time individual design projects, if that is what the client needs."

The rewards of the job are simple, she said, the pleasure of a job well done.

"The greatest reward is when a client really excited about our work," she said. "It's nice to be able to tell that we exceeded their expectations and really impressed them."

While her company's success has made any return to the hospitality industry unlikely, Ms Ward is pleased with the manner in which her career has developed. "This is not at all what I imagined doing as a career but life has a funny way of working out sometimes," she said. "My vision for emedia is pretty clear and so far we are on track."