Persona

 This is Jeff. He is 36 years old, married and the father to beautiful 5-year-old twin daughters. Together with his wife they make approximately $215,000 a year. Jeff works in commercial real estate and works hard to balance his job with his obligations at home taking care of his family. Jeff’s home is large and in a good neighborhood near his parents and in-laws, but it is highly leveraged and they are unsure if the schools nearby will be ok long terms for their kids. Though they are making good money, Jeff worries about keeping up their lifestyle and the expense of possibly paying for a private high school education on top of college. Even so, he loves his classic car and likes to have the latest gadgets to help him “simplify his life”.

What does Jeff think and feel?

Jeff’s family is the most important thing in his life, and so doing what is best for them is generally the priority. However, he married young and sometimes wonders if he missed out on some of his “youth”. There is a bit of “midlife crisis” sometimes that comes out in his hobbies. He does think that he has a pretty great life though – he’s got a beautiful wife and adorable, precocious kids! He truly loves his wife and daughters. He aspires to “keep up with the Joneses” and provide for his family. He is working hard to move up in his career. His wife is a high-powered attorney, and sometimes he feels a little threatened by her success, which drives him to work harder.

What does Jeff see?

He lives in an upper middle class/upper class neighborhood. He sees beautiful homes with manicured lawns. As he drives to work he sees first expensive boutiques and high-end restaurants, and then big box stores and major retailers in strip malls. Jeff’s friends are mainly a mix of people that he knows from college and high school (many of them have landed in the same neighborhood). He is frequently at soccer games and ballet recitals. Afterwards he and the guys will hang out in the backyard and drink scotch or a few imported beers while the wives drink wine in the house.  He looks around his home and sees the latest technology – from flat screen TVs and surround sound, to front loader washer and dryer and gas range. Jeff’s kids are experts on his iPad and sometimes teach even him something!

What does he say and do?

Jeff is relaxed and confident in public. He puts on wry amusement at all the “girly stuff” he has to do as a dad, but he really loves it all and can’t get enough of his girls. During the week he wears a suit to work everyday and looks very sharp. In his time off he is a polo and jeans kind of guy. He always looks put together and his clothes are usually of a recognizable brand (but not trendy – legacy luxury brands like Lacoste, J.Crew) so that people know that he values quality. Jeff is a good-looking guy, but not “pretty”. He is a man’s man and knows how to work with his hands, though he’d rather pay someone to do the dirty work.  He does respect those folks though. He treats the people that he employees at home (housekeeper, nanny, yard crew) with great respect.

What does Jeff hear?

He gets a lot of feedback from those around him. His wife expects him to contribute to the home, and wishes he would focus more on helping within the family and less about “competing” with her career.  His boss likes him a lot and they have a good relationship. The only problem is that often his boss wants him to stay out late for drinks and dinner with clients when Jeff would rather be home with his daughters. Jeff’s friends are always comparing their latest toy (or bauble for their wives). There is quite a bit of friendly competition in the circle, and being a high school athlete, Jeff can’t resist trying to stay on par with his buddies. His parents are aging, so Jeff hears more and more about their needs. They are also very concerned about the schools in the area and are very vocal about their grandchildren’s education.

What are Jeff’s pain points?

Jeff’s greatest fears surround letting people down, whether that be his wife & kids, his boss, his buddies or his parents. He tries to be everything to everyone. He worries about his kids and would do anything for them. If something were to “threaten” them (physically all the way to something like a learning disability) he would move mountains to make it right. Even though in many ways it appears that Jeff and his family couldn’t want for anything and are the luckiest of the lucky, he still worries about what would happen if something were to happen to him. So Jeff tries to plan ahead. Even so, he worries about the economy and how that will affect his ability to provide at the level they expect.

What does Jeff hope to gain?

If there could be more hours in the day to get everything done and please everyone then Jeff would be happy. He hopes to find ways to spend more quality time with his daughters. He hopes to find more time with his wife. He wants to make more money to pay for his life.