Jennifer Kornoely turned a hobby into a career after she lost her job. | Photo courtesy of Jennifer Kornoely
Jennifer Kornoely was a single mom, working a corporate job in the hotel industry in Orange County — one of the most expensive areas in the country — when she had the rug yanked out from under her feet.
Her manager, a man who, by her own frank assessment, did not like women with opinions, decided she was no longer needed. In an instant, she lost a job she enjoyed and a six-figure income, with a child to support.
Instead of waiting for someone to hand her another opportunity, Kornoely turned her hobby photographing hotel properties into a livelihood. With a hefty portfolio already built, she forged a path forward and kept moving, charting a course guided by a hard-won promise to herself: to never again be financially vulnerable to corporate whims.
“It just made me realize I don’t want some dweeb to have control over my money,” she said with the kind of directness that makes you want to lean in and nod. “So, I need to learn other things.”
Kornoely carved out her own work schedule around her caregiving responsibilities as a mom. After moving to Boise, Idaho, where she photographed identical, empty new-build homes for a local builder for a while. But the job site was “empty, gray” and she worked completely alone — a recipe for sucking the joy right out of what was formerly a creative outlet.
RETURN ON READING
Now, when Kornoely isn’t photographing “beautiful properties” for a vacation rental company in Sun Valley, she’s nurturing her growing book club business, She Reads She Leads.
The all-women virtual book club focuses on business, finance and mindset books. Members meet over Zoom once a month to discuss the latest book (the group’s favorites to date are Necessary Endings by Dr. Henry Cloud and Profit First by Mike Michalowicz) and feel a sense of community — one that Kornoely designed to be a safe space where solopreneur women can be vulnerable, particularly around money questions.
“For women to be able to come into a group of other women, some that they know, some that are total strangers on a Zoom, and be like, ‘Oh my God, I’m 50 years old and I didn’t know this thing, I’m behind,’” she said. “Or to be able to be vulnerable and cry or admit that their relationship with money is toxic or something like that. That wouldn’t happen if there were strange men in the group.”
She Reads She Leads is geared toward women in their late-30s to mid-50s who find themselves at a career inflection point. Kornoely welcomes entrepreneurs at every stage who see the value in learning new things.
“You need to be introduced to new ideas because you never know how they will just spark new things,” she said. “You need more touch points with your customers than ever before, so you need to be thinking outside the box with how you’re presenting yourself. If you’re just like every other CPA that’s out there, why would anybody have you do their taxes? If you start thinking more creatively, maybe you won’t be like every other CPA, or whatever your role is.”
