For some people, it’s kicking a soccer ball, playing an instrument or writing poetry. For Jenna Schmidt, it was programming that came naturally.
“The hours seemed like minutes when I was working,” she said in her 40 Under Forty application.
It took some time, however, for the Connecticut College graduate to recognize her gift. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry but soon realized medicine wasn’t her field.
She took a job as an investment analyst, teaching herself complex math while working with Excel spreadsheets. She ended up developing several programs to automate the calculations she found herself doing numerous times a day. Her employer, Aeltus Investment Management, was happy and so was Schmidt: She had found her calling.
A job as a junior-level programmer with another firm quickly led to a senior-level position and eventually a number of consulting positions for larger firms. She also developed a stable of private clients that grew large enough to convince her in 2002 to start her own firm, Artifex Technology Consulting Inc.
In eight years her staff has grown from a one-woman operation to 25 workers, including design and programming teams.
The Lincoln firm has more than 500 customers worldwide and a bevy of certifications, including Microsoft Gold-Certified Partner. It offers Web design, marketing ideas, programming, copy writing and more.
“We’re committed to employing only the top 1 percent of professionals in the creative and Internet fields,” Schmidt said on the firm’s website. Her focus on building a business has often left Schmidt time for little else. But the development of employees has always remained a priority. They are encouraged both intellectually and financially to follow her lead in developing their education in the technology field. •
