Jen Bilik

Jen Bilik
Born	July 21, 1969 Berkeley, California, United States
Alma mater	University of Michigan
Occupation	Publisher and businessperson; founder and CEO of Knock Knock (company)

Jen Bilik is the founder and CEO of Knock Knock, an award-winning gift product and book publishing company.

Biography

Bilik was born on July 21, 1969, in Berkeley, California. After attending college at the University of Michigan, she moved to New York City and pursued a variety of creative interests including writing, editing, design, and arts and crafts. She freelanced as an apprentice film editor, architectural draftsperson, and newspaper proofreader before becoming a book editor at Rizzoli International Publications.

After a freelance stint that included editing many books as well as co-authoring two (Todd Oldham: Without Boundaries and Women of Taste: A Collaboration Celebrating Quilt Artists and Chefs), Bilik moved to Los Angeles in August 1998.

Encouraged by her friends’ reception to her witty January Card (a holiday card for procrastinators) and her flow-chart poster How to Find True Love, Bilik launched Knock Knock (company) in 2002 with the proceeds from the sale of her Manhattan apartment.^[1][2] The company is based in Venice, California, where Bilik also resides.

Bilik founded Knock Knock in order to be able to “write and design at the same time”^[3] and all of Knock Knock’s products exhibit this union. She is an adept humorist, and Knock Knock’s products are known for having a distinctive, non-homogenized voice of humor via social observation. She is a designer, creative director, and avid crafter. She has also learned the principles of running a business through trial by fire.^[4]

Other Activities

• Contributor to The Huffington Post^[5]
• Contributor to Inc. (magazine)^[6]
• Co-president of Dog Beach Now^[7]
• Guest lecturer at Art Center College of Design
• Featured speaker: Design Indaba Conference in 2011^[8]
• Featured guest on the "Work Awesome" podcast in 2011^[9]
• Featured speaker: The Dieline Conference in 2013^[10]
• Keynote speaker: PubWest Conference in 2013^[11]
• Featured guest on Design Observer's Design Matters with Debbie Millman in 2013^[12]
• Featured speaker: AIGA Blueprint Law for Creatives in 2013^[13]
• Featured as one of LA Weekly's Most Fascinating People in 2014 ^[14]
• Featured speaker: TYPO San Francisco in 2015^[15]

Media and press

Profiles of Bilik have appeared in:

• LA Weekly^[16]
• Inc. (magazine)^[17]
• The New York Times^[18]
• Wall Street Journal^[19]
• The Dieline^[20]
• Design Milk^[21]
• Dog Milk^[22]
• Kern and Burn^[23]
• Daring Female^[24]
• TalkTech Communications^[25]
• Design*Sponge^[26]
• Blogcritics"^[27]
• Ladies Who Launch^[28]
• Design Observer^[29]

References

1. Welch, Liz (October 2011). "The Way I Work: Jen Bilik of Knock Knock". Inc. magazine.
2. Wallace, Amy. "The Wit That Breeds Wisdom". The New York Times. Retrieved March 20, 2010.
3. "Procrastination Is Start-Up's Key To Success". The Wall Street Journal. June 15, 2004.
4. Wallace, Amy (March 20, 2010). "The Wit That Breeds Wisdom". The New York Times.
5. "Blog Entries by Jen Bilik". Blog Entries. The Huffington Post. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
6. "Hard Knocks". Inc. Inc. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
7. "Dog Beach Now". Dog Beach Now.
8. "Jen Bilik". Design Indaba.
9. Vardy, Mike. ""From Writer to Entrepreneur: Jen Bilik"". Work Awesome. Retrieved May 6, 2010.
10. "Knock Knock's Jen Bilik Joins The Dieline Package Design Conference". The Dieline. The Dieline. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
11. "PubWest 2013 Conference". PubWest. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
12. "Jen Bilik". Design Observer. The Design Observer Group. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
13. "Blueprint: Law For Creatives [RECAP 07.25.13]". AIGA Los Angeles. AIGA Los Angeles.
14. Alimurung, Gendy. "Jen Bilik: The Knock Knock Joke Stationer". LA Weekly. LA Weekly. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
15. "Losing Focus to Find Focus". TYPO Talks. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
16. Alimurung, Gendy. "Jen Bilik: The Knock Knock Joke Stationer". LA Weekly. LA Weekly. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
17. Welch, Liz (October 2011). "The Way I Work: Jen Bilik of Knock Knock". Inc. magazine.
18. Wallace, Amy (March 20, 2010). "The Wit That Breeds Wisdom".
19. "Procrastination Is Start-Up's Key To Success". Wall Street Journal. June 15, 2004.
20. "The Dieline". The Dieline. The Dieline. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
21. Katz, Marni. "Friday Five with Jen Bilik of Knock Knock". Design Milk. Design Milk. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
22. Kimball, Capree. "The Scoop: Jen Bilik and Paco". Dog Milk. Dog Milk. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
23. "Day 61". Kern and Burn. 100 Days of Design Entrepreneurship. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
24. "Feature Daring Female". DaringFemale.com. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
25. Iliff, Rebekah. "Interview with Jen Bilik, Founder of Knock Knock: Putting the Fun in Functional". TalkTech Interviews. TalkTech. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
26. Ditmeyer, Anne. "Sneak Peek: Jen Bilik of Knock Knock". Design*Sponge. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
27. "I Deal In Procrastination Crack". Blogcritics Culture. Blogcritics.org. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
28. "Jen Bilik Overall Head Honcho-Knock Knock". Ladies Who Launch. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
29. Millman, Debbie. "Design Matters: Jen Bilik". Design Observer. Retrieved 8 February 2013.