Long after moving away from Chenango County, a Norwich native says her ties to the area remain stronger than ever.
Jenny Newcomer (formerly Kane), now a resident of Dorango, Colo., has faced hardships and joy along the way to success.
After graduating from Norwich High School in 1994, Jenny traveled up the road to Colgate University where she earned a degree in environmental policy. During her summers in college, she traveled to Colorado where she took part in a geology project. “I had family out there, and I just fell in love with Colorado,” she said.
Newcomer states her initial plan upon finishing school at Colgate was to go there and study law. “I spent the summer in a beautiful place but didn’t see it, because I was in a law library all day,” she says. “That’s when I knew law wasn’t for me.” During her first summer in Colorado, Jenny met Will, her future husband.
After deciding law was not the way to go, Newcomer started working for the National Land Conservation Organization, where she says she found something she truly enjoyed. “We would help others buy up land and preserve it, make it into parks or recreational opportunities,” she said. Newcomer worked in Boulder for the conservation organization for five years. During this time, as she prepared to be married and start a family, Newcomer was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at age 23, and her plans were put on hold.
“When I found out about the cancer, I knew it was time to slow down and that I needed a break,” Newcomer says. She underwent surgery and starting a family was going to be a bit more complicated.
In 2002, Will, a sports marketing director for an events company, and Jenny decided they needed a change in scenery, so they left their jobs and moved to Dorango to start up their own business. “We needed to get out of the rat race,” she says. The couple hoped to operate a business that gave them the flexibility they wanted in addition to meeting their individual needs and interests.
Gravity Play Sports, their first venture, which now operates at the national level is, is an events company. “With Will’s sports interest and my organizational and coordinating skills, we make a good team,” she says.
In 2003, the couple adopted their daughter Samantha. “We adopted Sam as an infant from a Norwich woman, ultimately making our bond with Norwich even stronger,” she says.
After becoming a mother, Newcomer says she found time management more challenging and keeping up with everything was more work. She began making lists and leaving them everywhere so she would feel more organized and wouldn’t forget about anything. In time, she put all of lists including, a “honey do” list, grocery list and a do-it-for myself list together and made herself a planner. She had it printed and in a short matter of time her friends say it had skyrocketed the idea of creating a second home-based business.
LobotoME is Jenny’s interest, and she says she has recently launched a product line containing six types of planners. “I include everything that mothers really need,” she says. “There is a place for exercise, groceries, gifts to buy and more, basically everything women especially mothers try to cram all in together.”
Starting the business was no easy task, Newcomer explains, saying “there was a huge learning curve.” Newcomer now creates and designs planners for organizing mother’s and parent’s lives one planner at a time. “Mothers especially wear many hats, and these planners are designed to keep it all organized,” Newcomer says.
Newcomer says owning home based businesses was a great way to go. “We can be very hands-on. Sam works right along with us,” she says. Newcomer says she and her husband are looking to adopt another child soon and want to expand both of their companies. Newcomer says she misses her family and wants to say hi to gram and gramp. To see what they do, visit both www.gravityplay.com and www.lobotome.com.
Editor’s Note: People in the Chenango community perform extraordinary feats under extraordinary circumstances every day. Oftentimes they go unnoticed or unappreciated; “Chenango Stories” puts the spotlight on those people whose compelling stories you might not otherwise hear. If you know someone who is interested in telling their “Chenango Story,” contact Jill Osterhout at 337-3075 or e-mail: josterhout@evesun.com.