Finalist
Product Innovation
Jami Miller has come a long way since being fired by her own father from the family business.
James Edward Miller began selling backup media and printer ribbons and founded JEM Computers Inc. in 1986, and two years later, his daughter began working for him while she attended college.
After four years, her father fired her for a lack of focus and dedication. First, she dabbled in pharmaceutical sales, finding success as a sales manager at a major corporation. Then, dissatisfied with the lack of advancement opportunities, she went back to her father.
With nearly a decade of work experience, Miller asked him for another chance, promising, “If I let you down, I let me down.”
Her father was so satisfied with her performance this time around that, when he stepped down four years ago, he left her in charge as the president of JEM Computers. And since then, annual sales and the number of employees at the IT company have both tripled.
She attributes the company’s growth to her vision, ethics and her focus on customer relationships. She spends time listening to current clients and doesn’t hesitate to cold call new ones. And as Miller makes plans to expand across the Midwest, she strives to keep providing the personal service that only a small business can offer.
But she won’t do anything for the client. She’s committed to always doing the right thing, even when doing so means losing a potential client.
In addition to caring for her clients, she cares for the environment and has begun researching and implementing green technology to help her clients cut power and cooling costs and stay conscious of the environment.
And she lives by a philosophy that guides her approach to competing against big names such as Dell, IBM and Hewlett-Packard: “Who says the Chihuahua cannot compete with the Great Dane?”
How to reach: JEM Computers Inc., (586) 783-3400 or www.jemcomputer.com
