Name: Sarah Jones Garibaldi
Age: 33
Job Title and Description: Founder and CEO
College Name/Major: University of Texas/Accounting
Website: www.missjones.co
Twitter Handle: @missjonesbakes
Instagram Handle: @missjonesbakes
What does your current job entail? Is there such a thing as a typical day?
SJ: Planning our short and long-term strategy in addition to running the day-to-day business needs. There is no typical day and my schedule changes constantly. I book most travel the week of or a few days before because things change so much!
What is the best part of your job?
SJ: Hearing about our customers baking success stories and their love for the products. I had been a lifelong from-scratch baker until I graduated from college and became so busy with my career that I didn’t have time for it anymore. I tried to find store-bought mixes and frostings that tasted great while also having an ingredient label I could understand, but couldn’t find anything. I decided to start Miss Jones Baking Co. to create better-for-you baking products that helped make baking easier and more delicious, allowing our customers to spend less time baking while still being able to show their loved ones how much they care.
What was your first entry-level job in your field and how did you get it?
SJ: I was an accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers. I viewed it as a building block for my career, but was never something I intended to do long term. I was lucky that they recruited heavily at UT and offered tons of internships, which almost always led to a full-time offer, so I took advantage of that program.
What words of wisdom do you find most valuable?
SJ: Persistence is the most important factor for success. You have to keep going and keep pushing until you get the outcome you want, whether you’re running your own business, your own department, or some minor project. Don’t give up until you get what you want.
What is one mistake you made along the way and what did you learn from it?
SJ: Give direct feedback to your co-workers and managers. It will make your relationship more productive than just stewing over things they do that irk you. It took me a while to get the guts to be direct, but your co-workers will appreciate it and your relationship with them and happiness at work will be so much better!
What has been the most surreal moment of your career thus far?
SJ: Having Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg wear our Bakers Gonna Bake sweatshirts in their 2017 T-Mobile Super Bowl Commercial promo.
What do you look for when considering hiring someone?
SJ: Good attitude, great attention to detail, extremely organized and being proactive.
What advice would you give to a 20-something with similar aspirations?
SJ: Try to figure out what you’re good at and what you’re passionate about as early on as possible. Craft your career so that you can eventually marry the two in the perfect job.
What’s the one thing that’s stood out to you the most in a resume?
SJ: I look for adaptability (working in or on many different roles and projects) and ownership/accountability (having responsibility for the success or failure of projects).