After graduating from The University of Michigan in 1997, CJ Jelinek moved to Chicago to freelance as a graphic and web designer, primarily for the real estate market. As the Internet blossomed over the next few years, CJ learned web development skills and built a Real Estate Platform in the early 2000's (what today is referred to as a CMS). For many years, this hosted platform allowed agents to manage their listings, along with various aspects of their websites.In 2008, as the housing market took a downward turn, CJ shifted his primary market to small businesses, and incorporated as JellyNeck Solutions, Inc. To accommodate the needs of this new market, he expanded his team and revamped the platform to include dozens of built-in features unique to small business websites. Known as the Small Business Platform, this version of the CMS was a "visual" experience allowing clients to edit their site on their site instead of in a traditional text box. The platform supported hundreds of websites over time, and underwent continuous upgrades and feature enhancements.
Then in 2016, a complete revamp of the platform finished after about three years of development. This new platform built off of previous features, but also incorporated all the advantages of modern web browsers and HTML5. For the first time ever, it allowed for nearly 100% of the site maintenance to be made visually on the website, rather than in a control panel. To encourage growth of the platform, it was branded as OcularCMS® and given its own web presence where anyone can easily build a site for themselves or their clients.