After leaving her 35-year career in banking to care for her ailing father in 2016, Nicole Wiggins knew that she had to look for a different career path.

Given her additional experiences investing in real estate and running a small property management company since the 2000s, she connected with other successful real estate gurus to figure out her next steps.

One of her mentors organized a meeting with two other individuals who had a business concept and this conversation led Wiggins to start a commercial and residential painting business, JEWN Enterprise Inc., with a partner in 2019.

Although the partnership concluded, Wiggins continues to run her business solo in West Roxbury.

“We have been in business for six years now. …We’re a union-based company. We help beautify spaces for people. We really find joy in that transition [of] spaces and divisions of our clients and helping them to make their places pretty and beautiful. JEWN came about from transition,” she said.

Besides interior and exterior painting, the company also offers pressure cleaning, furniture moving, color planning and sample review and color matching.

Wiggins said the name of her business comes from her initials and her children’s first names — J for Jade, E for Ebony, W for Wayne and N stands for her name.

She said that what makes her painting business stand out among others in the city is her passion.

“It may sound cliche, but it’s my passion … even before having this company, that. …What makes a process stand out is the individual,” she said. “I want to meet you. I want you to experience me, and I want to experience you, as a person. I believe to my core that is a high indicator on what you’re going to get in a potential relationship with a person.”

Wiggins also shared her proudest accomplishments so far.

“It would be the relationship building. It makes me so proud and happy to get a call from a general contractor that I formed a relationship with now that they know that we do great work, we’re reliable, we’re professional. And when I get those calls from my general contractor and they say, ‘Nicole, I need you to look at this project for me,’ because they know that we’re going to go in and get the job done, that makes me most proud,” she said.

“The finished product, too. I get excited to see what we create, like dire space. It could be down to the bare framing of a shell of a building and or an abandoned building, anything that’s just been run down, dirty and not pretty, and we go in and we transform. It is like sunshine. It’s like the ocean. It’s beautiful,” she added.

She shared some of the obstacles she faced when opening JEWN Enterprise Inc., which included being fearful of the unknown, not knowing where to get specific certifications for the city of Boston and her figuring out how to transition the business into the union.

Wiggins also shared her experience of being a Black woman in the commercial and residential painting industry.

“As a Black woman … when you’re a woman with empathy [who cares] about people and want[s] to help people, it can be very challenging, because sometimes you’re not respected because you’re a woman,” she said.

“There have been times on the job site and even with my crew, this is all around my crew, I could give a direct order and … I don’t see an immediate response from some individuals.”

“Then, I can ask or delegate to the foreman to give the same order, but the guys, because he’s a man, will adhere a lot quicker. So, I find myself having to repeat myself more as a woman,” she said. “I feel like I have to be more present to make sure things are getting done the way I want them to get done.”

Wiggins shared her advice for Black entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs of color who may want to open a business.

“I would tell them to definitely follow their dreams. I’ve learned that with dedication, focus, resilience and patience that anything is possible. I firmly believe whatever a person sets their mind to do, they can achieve it. And there are people out here that will support you, white, Black, purple and green. A lot of my support comes from a variety of people. There are good people still in the world,” she said. “Ask for help and give yourself grace, because we [are] still learning and growing.”

ON THE WEB

Learn more at jewninc.com