R&J Advisory Group Coach Jennifer

Your Coach

I'm Jennifer Walzer Berkowitz. Today I am a strategic business coach, trained on the Scaling Up Strategic Coaching platform, serving CEOs and organizations in South Florida. Read on to find out more about the journey that brought me here.

CEO 2 BE

Growing up, I always wanted to be a CEO. When I was 18, I ordered a vanity license plate that said "CEO 2 BE," and when I graduated college, I scrawled the same phrase on my graduation cap to let the world know where I was headed! In 2002, I founded Backup My Info! (BUMI), a premium online data backup and recovery service for the financial services industry.

Living the dream?

Within a few years of founding BUMI, I was running a successful business. My dream had come true, but I couldn't enjoy my success. I was stressed-out and frustrated. I was working nonstop and much of my time was spent living out painful clichés like "being in the weeds" and "putting out fires." I wanted to scale my business but I knew I had to fix things before that happened.

My A-ha Moment

Around that time, through the Entreprenuers Organization, I was introduced to the Scaling Up methodologies. I read Mastering the Rockefeller Habits, by Scaling Up founder Verne Harnish and I realized right away that it was exactly what I needed to help achieve scalable growth for BUMI. I started interviewing coaches and found the right one for me.

A is for Accountability

The Scaling Up coaching process changed everything for me and my BUMI team. My coach kicked us into gear and forced me to ensure I had the right long-term strategy in place. We started by assessing the problems specific to my business, and then worked to implement tried-and true strategic tools that allowed us to move forward with accountability and total alignment.

The process enabled me to finally get past the self-created roadblocks that were preventing my business from growing. It gave me and my team tangible goals and a plan to reach them by working together with a unified vision. We hit our goals every single year after implementing the Scaling Up methodology, and I was finally able to experience growth, while having FUN in the process.

Real, Tangible Results

As a result of the hard work my team and I put in to implement the Scaling Up framework, BUMI earned media mentions (NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Daily News, Crains Magazine, NY Enterprise Report), won awards (Inc 5000, Best Places to work, Stevie Award for Entrepreneur of the Year, and more), and ultimately became a valuable company that was worth acquiring.

Freedom Goal™ Realized

In 2014, I got a call from a competitor that recognized that value. While I was having a blast with my company (I was finally able to work ON my business rather than IN it), they gave me an offer I couldn’t turn down. Ultimately, I had reached my Freedom Goal™! I could retire and spend more time with my family while pursuing professional interests and passions on my own terms.

Paying it Forward

After I retired from BUMI, I spent two years volunteering as a coach for the Entrepreneurs Organization Accelerator Program. This was a game changer for me, as I was able to continue to live my "why" - making a positive impact in the lives of others - and I was once again reminded of the power of the Scaling Up method. I decided to launch a coaching business to help even more entrepreneurs benefit from this powerful program.

I am here because I believe in this process and because I want to use my experience to make an impact in the lives of others. I reached my personal Freedom Goal™ of being able to balance a fulfilling professional venture with plenty of family time.

What's Your Freedom Goal™?

Maybe that sounds appealing to you. Maybe your Freedom Goal is something entirely different. Either way, if you're too stressed, frazzled and confused right now to even begin to think of how to achieve your goals, CONTACT ME. Let's talk about getting you on the path to success – the path to your own Freedom Goal.

  • R & J Advisory Group – Strategy advisor/coach to corporations from $2M to $120M in revenue since 2014
  • Scaling Up International Coach
  • Founder and CEO of Backup My Info! (BUMI), a premium, white-glove, online data backup and recovery company, which was founded in 2002, grown to a multimillion-dollar, debt-free company, and acquired by j2 Global (NASDAQ: JCOM) in July 2014.
  • New York Times writer for “A CEO’s Journey” – a weekly online blog sharing my experiences as the CEO of a fast-growing tech firm. (2009-2010)
  • Entrepreneurs’ Organization Accelerator Coach. (2015-2017).
  • BIRTHING OF GIANTS/EO/MIT PROGRAM
    - Entrepreneurial Masters Degree (3 year program), 2009-2011
    - Executive Educational program jointly hosted by the MIT Enterprise Forum and Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO).
    - Selected to be 1 of 60 CEOs globally to attend this prestigious program.
  • The University of Arizona (graduated with honors) 1995 BS in Management Information Systems

"I have the pleasure of working with Jennifer as a mentor, growth coach and friend. She truly has the gift to bring out the best in people and it has significantly changed my executive team and business overall. We have collaborated for nearly a year now, and without hesitation, I highly recommend her if you are ready to scale your business!"

-David Gimes, CEO of Paw.com



"Jen is a true professional, through and through. We brought her in to help scale up our business and she continues to impress us almost a year later. She demonstrates tremendous leadership in guiding our team but also knows when to let the meetings naturally evolve. Her experience and no nonsense approach makes her one of the better business coaches available. We would recommend her to any business leader looking to scale up."

-Zachary Kirstein, Co-Founder of 4G Recycling



"Jennifer has been integral in creating helping our team to create a strategy and the executional rigor to take my business to the next level. Since working with her our business’ revenue has more than doubled. I attribute our success to her guidance, structure and insight that has helped me and my team to identify our biggest priorities and issues. Then she outlines the process and tools that allows our team to come together to work on those priorities and solve our issues. Jen was the missing piece that I needed to move my company from just being good to being the great organization I always knew it could be."

-David Krieger, President of Salesroads.com



My parent company (Herman AV) has been working with Jennifer for the past 2 years and we feel it has made a real difference in how we operate as a company and the success we are having. Jennifer has worked with us on communications within the team and our ability to execute on quarterly plans which has had a major impact. Also Jennifer's "kick ass" approach to working with everyone makes them keep on their toes. I highly recommend working with Jennifer if your company is truly interested in taking their business to the next level.

-Chris Bianchet, President of Herman Integration Services



"Jennifer is a process-oriented ninja. She is skilled at coaching CEOs through the process of understanding the process and steps they will need to take to get out of their own way and grow their business.

Jennifer has a ton of credibility because she’s built, grown, scaled and successfully sold a business by going through this process with herself and her team.

What I love most about Jen is when you say you are going to do something she holds you accountable and also gives you the tools to do it. Whenever I’m stuck, she’s someone I know who can very quickly get me unstuck, usually by giving me the kick in the rear that I need!

Another incredible quality Jen has is she keeps it simple and focused, so anything and everything is possible. Finally, she has a huge heart, genuinely cares about people and has a curiousity about others - all essential to being a good coach."

-Wendy Lieber, Founder, ContentBacon