Jennifer Barnes: Empowering Employees, Clients, and Growth Through Flexibility and Visionary Leadership

Jennifer Barnes is the CEO of Optima Office, a company that provides outsourced accounting, fractional CFO and COO services, and human resources support to around 300 companies across the United States. Optima's philosophy is centered around happy staff, happy clients, and attracts extraordinary employees by offering flexible work hours. Jennifer has won numerous awards and accolades, including San Diego Union Tribune Top Workplaces, the Los Angeles Times Inspirational Women, and the SDBJ 2021 Businesswomen of the Year Award.

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Jennifer Barnes Links:  

Website: https://www.optimaoffice.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/optimaoffice 

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PODCAST INFO:  

Listen to Episodes on WomELLE: https://www.womelle.com/blog/category/Podcast

Website Podcast: https://www.womelle.com/podcast

YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYDpQX16k5Uh7G7PFjMjZ8KimqoOpFF-t

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CONNECT:  

- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/WomELLE 

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/womelle 

- Twitter: https://twitter.com/womelle 

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/womelle 

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realwomelle/ 

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OUTLINE: 

1:12 - Jennifer's journey in getting started in the industry.

4:03 - The challenges of partnerships for Jennifer.

9:03 - Jennifer's experience in taking over a company with no money.

13:46 - The demographics of Jennifer's team.

16:55 - Jennifer's strategies for employee retention and turnover.

21:27 - HR assessment and its importance in Jennifer's business.

26:07 - How Jennifer incentivizes people without giving away equity.

28:35 - Jennifer's approach to onboarding new employees.

33:34 - How Jennifer stays motivated as a business leader.

38:47 - Jennifer's work environment and her strategies for maintaining it.