By Chelsea Meyer
B103 Rockford
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Business: JS Social Café and Stephensons Courier Services

Owner: Janene Stephenson

Location: 607 West State St., Studio B, in Rockford

Janene Stephenson had always had a passion in event planning and decorating, right before the pandemic hit, she decided to take a leap of faith and open her own business.

With businesses shutting down in the midst of  COVID-19, Stephenson had to brainstorm and create something bigger for her business.

“Unfortunately, the pandemic hit three days after I opened so that didn’t discourage me, it just made me realize that I had to get creative,” Stephenson said in an interview with the B103 Morning Routine.

What started off being just an office for Stephenson’s event decorating business, turned into what is now called JS Café, located in the heart of downtown Rockford.

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The wheels in her brain are always turning with new ideas so she decided to host pop-up shops. “With the pop-up shops, we have six vendors, entrepreneur vendors, businesses that want to build their brands,” Stephenson said.

Business owner is one of her titles, but she also goes by “the pop-up market queen.”

In July of 2020, Stephenson received a proclamation from Mayor Tom McNamara and the city of Rockford declaring July 20 as, “Entrepreneu(her) Shopping Expo and Networking Social Day.” From book signings to paint events, JS Social Café is a micro-event home.

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Stephenson told B103 her biggest support system and backbone has been her husband. She says when she has all these great ideas, her husband, Lynn Stephenson, is always there to either pump her brakes or to support her.

With her husband’s support, most recently, together they started Stephensons Courier Services which is a pick-up, drop-off, transportation service.