When I first met Jess, she was serving as the head of marketing and de facto COO of Liz Lange Maternity, a high end fashion brand. She had been there for nearly seven years, from when the company was still pretty much brand new, by the time it was acquired last November by a large private equity fund.

So, she took that company transition as a chance to step out herself, and start looking for other opportunities.

Pretty quickly, it became clear she was talking to basically two categories of companies: large ones, where they were eager to hire her, but where she was less eager to actually work; and small ones (with annual sales under, say, $5m), who were also eager to hire her, and with whom Jess was excited to work, except for their inability to actually pay a salary.

From the beginning, I suggested that she consider launching a consulting firm, the idea being that there were a lot of those little, sub-$5m companies that had bootstrapped their way to success, but had started topping out, and desperately needed strategic, marketing, financial and operational assistance.

Jess, however, was against the idea, mainly on the grounds that she was convinced she’d never find any companies willing to actually hire her as a consultant.

But, it turns out, she didn’t need to, because companies started finding her.

By now, JG & Co. (at the moment, the ‘& Co.’ being me) has signed on a slew of clients, including great brands like [Lucy Sykes](http://www.lucysykesnewyork.com/) (WASPy-cute kids clothing), [Lauren Moffatt](http://laurenmoffatt.net/) (a quirky contemporary clothing line), and [Hayden-Harnett](http://haydenharnett.com/) (bags, etc.).

More companies keep popping out of the woodwork, too, and so Jess is now trying to figure out how many she can handle, and if she needs a real ‘& Co.’ that ideally includes people who (unlike me) have at least some vague idea about the business of fashion.

Still, I couldn’t be prouder of her. I know, first-hand, how hard and stressful and nerve-wracking it is to get a company off the ground, and have been constantly impressed by seeing her handle it all with grace and aplomb.

I always wanted a sugar-mamma.