Today we’d like to introduce you to Jackie Struble.
Jackie, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I didn’t set out to build an operations company. I started out watching my husband build his construction business.
Jacob owns Struble Construction, and for years I was in the background of that business, handling the parts nobody sees. Scheduling, client communication, the invisible thread that has to hold a project together so the person doing the actual work can focus on doing it well. I didn’t have a name for what I was doing yet. I just knew it mattered, and I was good at it.
Somewhere in there, I started doing the same thing for interior designers. Creative women running studios, doing incredible work, and drowning in the backend of their own businesses. That became Jacqueline Struble Co. Today, JSC supports interior designers with the operational clarity and systems they didn’t know they were missing.
I built it in the pockets of time that exist between practices, games, and everything else, because I’m also a mom of five, running a business from a small homestead in Wisconsin.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There has been no smooth road along the way, and I’d be suspicious of anyone who tells you it was.
The hardest part wasn’t learning the work. It was learning to charge for it, and to stop saying yes to everything because I was afraid to lose a client. Early on, I was doing far more than what I was being paid for, because I didn’t trust that my time was worth what it actually was.
There was also a stretch where I was trying to be everything at once: to my husband’s business, to my own, to my family, and telling myself I could just push through. Something had to give, and eventually it was my own bandwidth. I had to get honest about what I could actually hold, and let go of the idea that doing more meant I was doing it right.
The other struggle is one most business owners don’t talk about. Growing slowly, on purpose, in a world that rewards hustle and scale. It’s hard to build sustainably when everyone around you is telling you to build fast.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Jacqueline Struble Co. is an operations and strategic support practice built specifically for interior designers. I help studio owners with the backend of their business, procurement, project coordination, systems, and workflow, so they can spend their time on the design work they actually built their business to do.
What sets me apart is that I am not a general virtual assistant or a marketing agency. I specialize in the interior design industry specifically, which means I already understand the vendor relationships, the client communication, and the pace of a project without needing it explained to me. My clients get a partner who speaks the language of their industry from day one.
What I am most proud of is the way I have built this business. Slowly, sustainably, and without chasing growth for the sake of growth. In an industry that rewards hustle, I have built something calm and steady instead, and it works.
I want readers to know that behind every well-run design studio, there is usually someone managing the parts nobody sees. That is the work I love. I help creative business owners build operational clarity so their business can actually support the life they are trying to build, not compete with it.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Honestly, the best networking I have done has not looked like traditional networking at all. A few months ago I met another business owner named Nicole through a webinar, and we started meeting once a week. We are not exactly mentors to each other, more like momentum partners. Every week we talk through whatever hurdles come up, bounce ideas off each other, and set small tasks to move each other’s businesses one step forward. If something comes up mid-week that could help the other person, we touch base then too.
That relationship has done more for me than any formal mentorship ever could. There is something powerful about having one person who checks in consistently, who knows what you are working through in real time, and who expects you to follow through on the small thing you said you would do.
My advice is to stop looking for the perfect mentor and start looking for someone in a similar season, doing similar work, who is willing to show up consistently. It does not have to be formal. It just has to be real.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jacquelinestrubleco.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jacquelinestrubleco/
