CEO of JEMMA Finds Her Home With Blueground
Our fully-furnished and equipped apartments perfectly suit Joanna Lau's needs as a global entrepreneur
4 Min Read
4 Min ReadAs a Founder and CEO, Joanna Lau knows very well what it’s like to be a professional on the go.
Joanna runs a business with the mission of making women feel more organized without having to sacrifice style. Founded three years ago, JEMMA is an e-commerce handbag company for the modern working woman. It’s direct-to-consumer with design aesthetics and modern functionality.
From her time as a Wall Street trader, her biggest pain point was finding a useful work bag that was something more than just a plain black tote. Well, she made the change she wanted to see.
“Functionality doesn’t have to be basic.”
Originally from Singapore, Joanna has called New York City home for years. Recently, she had plans to move to a new condo development. Unfortunately, construction didn’t go quite go according to schedule (as it so often doesn’t) and she was left in the lurch without a place to live. Since she’d already sold her current apartment, she was in a rush to find a suitable home while she waited (an undefined amount of time) for construction to finish.
Without furniture or bulky items to lug around, she considered booking a hotel in the interim. However, she found that extended stays in hotels can get very pricey. On top of that, there is also a lack of privacy and homey comforts. Realistically, hotels only make sense for a period of a month or less. 
By conducting a simple Google search, Joanna came across Blueground. During her past travels, Joanna had stayed in many serviced apartments so she knew the enhanced experience that these kinds of spaces can offer. With this in mind, and enticed by the apartments listed on Blueground’s website, she reached out to Blueground’s Sales Team, who stepped in to help.
Our Sales Team are always hands-on at the beginning of every booking process and they immediately helped pair Joanna with her dream apartment. They care deeply about what matters most to our guests – in this case, some quiet after what are often long days at the office – and helped Joanna rent a fully-furnished, equipped and turnkey apartment in Battery Park City.
With Blueground, her entire New York experience has been completely elevated. There’s so much more that a Blueground apartment offers compared to other flexible housing options, especially when it comes to space and amenities. There’s actually an entire apartment at her disposal – not just a single hotel room! Joanna truly felt that with Blueground, she could spread out and make herself at home.
“If you’re looking for something from two months to a year, it’s more cost-effective to go with Blueground.”
Joanna typically travels for about five months out of the year. As an entrepreneur, being tied down to long-term leases is not ideal. You never know where you’ll need to be in a few months. As the CEO of a fast-growing brand, flexibility is crucial, both for office spaces and for residences.
The Blueground booking process is as seamless as possible, designed to perfectly fit the needs of on-the-go renters. Anyone can find and reserve their desired property online. Apartment searchers will find true-to-life, high-quality photos, virtual tours as well as building and pricing details with every listing. Meaning, you can avoid having to deal with the time-consuming route of scheduling and attending viewings.
“I love coming home to an apartment that looks and feels good at the end of a long day.”
Combining practicality and fashion, JEMMA wants to help people look good and to be on-trend, especially in a professional environment. It’s about focusing on people’s needs and then finding a way to implement them. The idea is to continually assist professionals with achieving and executing their business goals.
During her search for an apartment and her stay in Manhattan, Joanna saw the parallels with Blueground and her own company. We are both focused on combining style and function and proving how these two concepts can go hand in hand.
As Joanna’s active home base in New York City, Blueground provided a space for her to feel comfortable, an environment for her to be productive, and a support team to help with absolutely anything along the way.
