The three guests entered the HubSpot world in different eras and for different reasons.
Jessica started by writing blogs for another HubSpot partner around 2018, when inbound content and pillar pages dominated. She later went freelance, then built an agency around her consulting work.
"Instead of selling myself just as like Jessica, the HubSpot consultant, I built Jolly and built everything like around the agency and selling myself as an agency." (Jessica León)
Joe arrived when HubSpot's CMS was still immature. His team filled the gap with WordPress sites integrated with HubSpot, then moved into HubSpot templates once the CMS improved.
"The thing I love so much now was not very good." (Joe Jerome, on HubSpot's early CMS)
"We eventually had twenty thousand shared customers with HubSpot as result of the templates." (Joe Jerome)
Sajeel came to HubSpot looking for a CRM for Computan itself and found something extra.
"We found there was this partner community and the partner community was full of, you know, marketing companies, agencies." (Sajeel Qureshi)
Jessica explained that inbound was the center of the HubSpot world when she started. The name stuck, even as the industry moved toward RevOps and the event itself rebranded from Inbound to Unbound.
This was the most debated topic of the episode. Jessica reached Platinum in 2024 as a team of two, mostly through managed points, and later returned to Gold when requirements changed. Sajeel shared a similar experience at Computan.
"We have managed enterprise accounts with more than 200 users, an account that's sending more than 10 million emails, marketing emails per year." (Jessica León)
Her point: a Gold badge does not show that depth of experience.
Key points raised:
"That directory was based on who got the most good reviews. That's exactly how it was back in the day. And it worked phenomenal." (Joe Jerome)
"It would be nice if it became more of a blended again." (Joe Jerome)
Sajeel framed the ecosystem as having different roles. Some partners recruit new HubSpot customers. Others keep those customers successful.
"We would never be the ones to maybe bring a stranger off the street into the church of Orange and get them to convert to the religion. But we could keep them as good orange followers of the religion." (Sajeel Qureshi)
Jessica's team started with ChatGPT, then moved to Claude. AI now touches both internal operations and client delivery.
"If we have to like cross reference exports from HubSpot with an Excel file instead of doing that manually or through formulas, Claude can do that in seconds and minutes." (Jessica León)
"AI has helped us both internally as an agency, but also with the work that we deliver to our clients." (Jessica León)
She also noted the downside of speed: HubSpot and AI tools update constantly, and agencies must keep learning just to keep up with client questions.
Joe summed up Jessica's niche after hearing how she works.
"You're really a process person at the end of the day." (Joe Jerome)
Jolly's approach follows a clear sequence:
"Our goal is to also train the team on how the process was built." (Jessica León)
She also observed that different industries share the same sales fundamentals.
"The person needs to have the budget. The person needs to have the timing, the need. So in ways, we talk about the same thing, just like the language changes." (Jessica León)
Do:
Avoid:
"I think it's easy to get overwhelmed with everything you have to do." (Jessica León)
She suggested starting with one or two things and doing them well.
Joe described what makes agency collaboration work.
"I don't wanna be a vendor, I wanna be a partner. And when we're a partner, there's nothing I like doing better." (Joe Jerome)
He added that staffing technical teams is one of the hardest parts of agency life, which is where Computan helps.
"It's hard to staff an agency team with technical people." (Joe Jerome)
Jessica said that working with Computan has expanded what her agency can offer.
"It also has helped us sell and expand our services because now we know that we can offer all these other things that before we couldn't." (Jessica León)
Unwatchable is Computan's podcast hosted by Sajeel Qureshi and Joe Jerome, featuring candid conversations with people in the HubSpot partner community.
Jessica León is the founder of Jolly Inbound, a HubSpot Gold Partner. She is a former air traffic controller who moved into HubSpot consulting and now serves clients across multiple industries and regions.
According to the discussion, tiers are driven largely by sold and managed points. The speakers argued this does not capture service quality, implementation depth, or client satisfaction.
Jessica explained that Jolly reached Platinum in 2024, mostly through managed points. When tier minimums increased, the agency returned to Gold. Selling more HubSpot licenses would require a different business model, and Jolly's focus is delivery for existing HubSpot users.
Jolly uses Claude, Granola for meeting notes, Notion for documentation, and a voice dictation tool for building SOPs. The team started with ChatGPT before moving to Claude.
It means defining the client's sales or marketing process before configuring HubSpot. Jolly maps the process in Figma, implements it in HubSpot, and trains the team on how it works.
Jessica recommended building relationships in the community, using partner managers for strategic guidance, and starting with one or two focus areas instead of trying to do everything.
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