You need someone who's actually built through the messy parts.
You don't need more business advice.
I’m Jill Shortreed. For more than 25 years, I’ve built businesses, taught business owners, led education, and worked through the same hard decisions, growing pains, and “what now?” moments you’re facing.
Now I help business owners figure out what’s really holding them back, decide what matters next, and build a plan they can actually follow.
I didn't learn business from a textbook.
For more than 25 years, I've built it, taught it, fixed it, changed it, and lived through it.
25+ years
building and operating businesses
12+ years
teaching business owners
Built
one of North America's largest retail businesses in its category
Led education
for a global manufacturer
Taught & spoke
across the U.S. and internationally
That experience matters because when you bring me a business problem, I’m not looking at it only through a marketing lens,
a sales lens, or an operations lens. I’m looking at your whole business.
But 25+ years in business hasn't been neat or easy.
I've built while raising a family.
I've made payroll when money was tight.
I've changed direction when something stopped working.
I've built through recessions, 9/11, COVID, moves, difficult seasons, and plans that didn't go as expected.
I've had days when I wanted to burn the whole thing down — and days when I couldn't believe what we had built.
That is why I don't give business owners generic advice.
I help you look at what is actually happening in your business, figure out the real problem, and decide what makes sense next.
Fable & Firm is for the “what now?” moments.
The offer isn't selling.
The marketing isn't working.
You're making money but working way too hard for it.
You've outgrown the way you're doing things.
Or you simply know something needs to change — but you can't tell what.
I know that feeling.
When the education role I loved was eliminated, I found myself asking the same question:
What now?
I could try to recreate what I had lost.
Or I could build the kind of business support I believed owners actually needed.
I chose the second.
And Fable & Firm was born.
Strategy that works in your real life.
I am not going to insist you run your business from a complicated program you will stop using next month.
We build around the way you actually work—whether that is Google Calendar, a planner, your notes app, or a wall full of sticky notes.
Because a system you do not use is not a strategy. It is just guilt with better branding.
Need a speaker for your event?
Jill brings 25+ years of real-world business experience and more than 12 years of teaching to the stage — with practical takeaways your audience can use when they get back to work.
No theory dump.
No motivational fluff.
No 47-step framework they'll forget tomorrow.
Just honest business conversations, useful strategy, and plenty of “I needed to hear that” moments.
Beyond the Business
Wife. Mom of five. Grammy. Disney lover.
I believe the business you build should support the life you want to live — not become the thing that keeps you from living it.
And after more than 25 years in business, I know success can look different in different seasons.
There is more to life than the business. The business should make room for it.
Honest advice. A clear plan. No unnecessary noise.
“I finally learned how to make proper money... and the importance of training.”
“Now I am doing all the things I had on hold...updating website and adding more revenue generating products.”
“Attendees are still speaking about what they learned in your class.”
You do not need to have your business figured out before we talk.
Bring the problem you can see. Together, we will find what is really causing it and decide what to do next.