Janklin: The Story Behind the Founder, the Future and the Frog
What brings someone to launch their own business? Sometimes it’s necessity. Sometimes it’s a new, innovative idea. For me, it was faith. Believing that I could do something with nothing in front of me. So here I am. Two years in with newly printed business cards.
Questions arise from others on the outside who may not know my journey or story like “What made you start your own business? Tell me about the frog? What do you do?” Our stories are powerful. They’re unique and no one can argue with them. Storytelling is a way to connect us, to humanize us and to showcase how beautifully complex and awe-inspiring we really are.
So here is my story.
The Founder
It was a dark and stormy night and a penguin in front of me attacked . . . no, no no. That’s not this story. Sorry to disappoint.
In 2015, I immigrated to Canada through an educational stream. I wanted the tools and the education to help different cultures understand one another. Even more so, I desired host countries to understand and respect newcomers and their cultures among them. I enrolled at the age of 35 (that’s right, it’s never too late to do something different) to Royal Roads University for a Master of Arts degree in International and Intercultural Communication.
To complete my Masters thesis, I interned with the Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Centre Society where I was the co-coordinator of the Vancouver Island Refugee Response Team – a Provincial initiative to create settlement supports for Syrian refugees coming to Vancouver Island. I loved it. It was policy, it was people, and it was purposeful! I learned so much about Canada’s federal system, local municipal governments, healthcare, education and even more so, I learned a deeper level of the immigrant experience – those raw, difficult, overwhelming and resilient pieces that make a newcomer to Canada such a integral part of what makes a country strong. With my thesis completed, I was ready to launch my career, take on new challenges and make for myself a pathway forward.
And then I had a baby.
If you’ve become a new parent and had to take a leave of absence from work, you will know it is not easy getting back into the work force. This is especially true if you’re a woman. No recruiter looks at your newly birthed parenthood and exclaims “Oh wow! You became a mother?! New mothers have so many skills which will work perfectly with a position here! You’re hired!” Quite the opposite.
I worked a minimum wage job for a while and then through a volunteer position, I was employed to work with a refugee sponsorship agency. It was incredible! This was the culmination of what I came to Canada for! I provided training and workshops for volunteers who were welcoming newly landed refugees. I addressed microaggressions, racism and allowed the story of refugees to inform the ways and processes that we were using. I absolutely loved it . . . even though it was taking an emotional toll on my spirit and my ability to provide the best possible care. My workplace didn’t provide the support I needed. At one point, I was working alone, reorganizing a community-based organization to exclusively virtual. The community I needed was nowhere to be found.
After a few months wrestling with emotional exhaustion, I resigned. I still remember sitting in my pajamas one morning, in tears and feeling like I had failed. All my education, my experiences, my passions felt quenched and I didn’t know how to revive my purpose and even my identity. Not to mention, being a new mother had its own reconstruction of who I was and what my career pathway could look like.
I reached out to a professor, a friend and mentor from my Masters program and told her the situation. She poured into me with encouragement and belief, reminding me of the skills and talent I had. It was something I hadn’t heard. She proceeded to say, “Why don’t you be a consultant? Why not? You have the skills; you know what people need and people love you! I think you can do it and I know a firm I can put you in touch with to do work for.” I hung the phone up, tears dried and big questions swelling up in my mind. My own business? Be my own boss? Can I do it?
No surprises here, but I did. Janklin launched in August of 2021 and I landed two contracts soon after. I’ll be honest – it was frightening. It wasn’t how to price projects. Nor was it staying organized or getting the work done. The biggest obstacle for me was finding confidence in myself. . . confidence that I was enough to do the job.
And in those moments where I land partnerships, collaborations or contracts, I feel this the most. But when time lapses and no work is in sight, I easily doubt myself.
The reality is we measure our worth based on the money we make or the productivity we have. Doing something is synonymous with being worth something. This is the harm of capitalism and individualistic societies. Productivity and measures of success become the driving factors for pursuits.
Doubts are the spaces where we face those hard to ask questions. But without asking them, we won’t find the answers we’re looking for. Sometimes it’s found simply believing and loving ourselves. Other times it’s connecting with community, volunteering, serving someone else. And in all the in-between times, it can only be discovered and defined by taking one day at a time. Imagine our rest being a measure of success? Imagine our doubts being a measure of productivity? Imagine prioritizing people over profit?
I am so thankful and honoured for the times work was low and no contracts were in sight. I am so grateful for clients who agreed to work with me, who trust me and continue to network for me. More important, I’m thankful that doubt and rest solidified my belief in myself.
The Future
I am happy to say that I recently printed business cards, which makes my business feel all the more professional (I’m old fashioned, I guess). I will attend a women’s conference this fall in the hopes to develop more connections, mentorships and networks. And I launched a podcast with a dear friend and colleague from my Master’s program, Hostion Ho called Canadian Salad. This podcast is a funny, factual and honest listen about cultures, people and the immigration experience in Canada. Check out Canadian Salad on Spotify, iTunes and Amazon Music, suscribe and take a listen.
Beyond these things, I resist to worry over the next contract. I resist to doubt myself and the talent that I have. All I can do is put one foot in front of the other, know when to rest and embrace opportunities as they come.
The Frog
Okay Andrea, but what about the frog? What’s the story?
It’s simple . . .I mean really simple. My son had a toy frog and named it ‘Janklin’. When I launched my business I wanted a name that was unique. I also wanted a domain name for my website that was easy to remember. ‘Janklin’ seemed like a good name.
The logo for my business was tricky. What do you use to represent ‘Janklin’? It was a name very unique and had no association with anything but my son’s toy frog. Without researching the symbolism of a frog, I decided that it would best represent my business. However, after conducting a brief cultural research on the meaning and symbolism of a frog, I knew that my choice had a deeper meaning. For some Indigenous communities here on Turtle Island, the frog is a symbol of transformation, of communication between mother earth and man, or of stability. In Japanese culture, the word ‘frog’ means ‘to return’ and are linked with people coming back to their country of origin. While they are a delicacy of cuisine in France, Polish folklore believes calling a child a ‘frog’ will stunt their growth. In Chinese Fenshui theory, a three-legged money frog will greatly improve one’s “chances of wealth and fortune”. There are negative associations with the frog as well.
But more than anything, the frog represents Janklin. She may be small but she’s alive. She transforms from a quiet, swimming tadpole to a loud, jumping amphibian. And she’s going to keep her voice, keep remembering how valuable she is, and keep leaping forward.