Start-up Society #96: JUV Consulting
Keeping the American Dream Alive
Welcome to the 96th edition of Start-up Society! This blog highlights some of the most exciting start-ups in the country striving to keep the American Dream alive.
Make sure you check out the previous issue, if you have not already, here!
After initially being featured in our Start-up Society #89: Ramadan Feature, we are sitting down today with Shaina Zafar, Co-Founder & Chief Marketing Officer of JUV Consulting for our Meet the Entrepreneur #20 article and podcast special.
This article provides a summary of the conversation. For the full details, tap into the podcast here!
What is JUV Consulting?
A purpose-driven marketing company run primarily by Generation Z (or Gen-Z for short), colloquially known as “zoomers.” JUV works with non-profits and Fortune 500 companies to help brands understand the Gen-Z market. The company does research, strategy, and implementation work and has been around for about six years now.
What does the JUV Consulting research process look like?
Traditional research mechanisms are archaic and do not do a good job of understanding our psyche. People are a product of their circumstances and a lot of conventional research treats Gen-Z as guinea pigs rather than partners. Sometimes it is about understanding first what questions need to be asked and about what. JUV has the best insights because it is Gen-Z to Gen-Z, allowing for more vulnerable and honest engagement versus traditional focus groups and other conventional research methods.
What about Generation Alpha?
My brother is six years old, I would say Gen Alpha is its own creation. We are seeing how the next generation is interacting with the same technologies in different ways. JUV is against the idea of generational experts and the idea of monoliths. It's about empowering Gen Alpha to build out their own JUV Consulting for their generational cohort. JUV is more than just focusing on generations, it's about trends that span generational lines.
What is your journey and how did you get to JUV?
I never thought I would be doing this work, nor did I think would be doing marketing. I was more interested in International Relations and wanted to do public service work and met my co-founder at a Model United Nations conference over five years ago! I bring my whole identity to the work I do and JUV is an excellent place to lean into the different aspects of my identity. Work should not be inhibitive to one's self-perception, I have noticed the difference in my peers' work-identity balance and am thankful for my situation. With the Great Resignation, we are seeing the ramifications of normalizing toxic work environments.
What was the biggest hurdle for JUV to overcome?
Working with Gen-Zers is hard. So building a company comprised mainly of this generation is hard to manage sometimes. Being best friends with all your colleagues changes the way to think about working relationships. I end up in situations where I am sometimes managing people who are older than me and those power dynamics are new to navigate for a lot of people. Separately, JUV is at a major growth inflection point and there are a lot of growing pains in the start-up space that come with having new ideas every other day.
Expansion plans?
If we could get our own office that we can decorate and make our own in NYC that would so fun! We have been in the same WeWork for the last six years and I love it, but while the idea of remote work is super powerful, having a private space to even build a studio or something would be really interesting.
What is your favorite style of cooking?
Eggs are the most powerful food item in the world. I am an improv cook and if I could I would do a food truck that aggregates all the excess food from restaurants with a new menu every day! That way nothing goes to waste.
Message to other founders or fellow Gen-Zers?
The idea of who are as individuals being divorced from our work or school is a total fallacy. We are now in a moment in time where there is a lot of polarization in the world. Community building helps build shared empathy within society and work towards a goal or a shared idea. If you see something is lacking in a community you are a part of, be a part of the solution and make a suggestion! The worst case is someone tells you no.
Any final parting messages?
If you are in the city and want halal food, go to a halal cart and not halal guys! Make time to meditate, create a time and space to sit down and reflect on your day. Have fun and be silly! It's important to be spontaneous and push your boundaries.
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Authored by Arteen Zahiri, Rumeer Keshwani, Elham Chowdhury, & Julian Ramcharan
