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Our Founder's Story

Hi, I’m Jessica the founder of Jessica Alex Marketing. As Seth Godin famously said, “Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories you tell” –– so it’s only fitting that I share my story with you!

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Canadian-born songstress, Deborah Cox sang, “How did you get here?” And that’s a great question.

 

I was first introduced to the concept of marketing in high school after taking a careers test and having the opportunity to shadow a marketing manager at Kraft Canada.

 

Although I took all the marketing courses I could in university, from 101, branding, stats & research, digital marketing and so on, I ended up falling in love with a sociology course I took and decided to major in a joint specialization in sociology & anthropology. Interestingly enough, I found it to be a very valuable asset to my marketing skills; being able to understand and examine/study different audiences, different cultures, is a crucial part of marketing.

 

During my studies, I kept a role at a bank to pay my way through school. After graduating, I stayed at the bank, and created marketing campaigns for the local branches I worked at. At the time, I also put one of my top skills to use, writing, and that’s when I started my publishing company. Soon after publishing my first children’s book, I had people reaching out to me to publish their children’s books as well. Not only did I design and print their books, I also offered marketing and PR services. I took care of their book launch event, set up book signings and consignment at local book stores and Indigo bookstores, and I helped them receive local media coverage.

First photo: First author client, Khalilah Brooks performing as Aunty B during her book tour. Second photo: Author Peta-Gaye Nash being interviewed on Rogers TV, under new company, Jessica Alex Marketing.

At that point, I started to receive referrals for authors who published with vanity presses that didn’t offer them marketing assistance. That’s when Jessica Alex Marketing was born in 2016.

 

Two years passed, and something inside me was saying it was time for a shift. As much as I loved working with authors, I was really connecting with other creative small businesses and felt I had boxed myself in too much. In fact, many of the authors I worked with were owners of small businesses as well.

 

One of my clients, who also happened to be a consultant met up for a coffee chat and said unexpectedly to me, “Jessica, have you thought about offering your services to female business owners?” I was so surprised, because I had been contemplating this, so it felt like an affirming moment and total alignment.

 

Around that time I was also on a vegan, turned clean-eating flexitarian journey, to feel more healthy from the inside-out. Beyond that, I started learning more about wellness and toxic products. I started to become more conscious about not only what I was consuming, but my wellness holistically. This was a far cry from the girl who grew up on junk food, processed snacks and TV dinners, and in a household that paid more attention to a skin or hair products' brand name, rather than its ingredients.

 

So now when it came to marketing to ‘fempreneurs’ I started organically attracting women business owners in the conscious & wellness space. Health & wellness coaches, organic beauty brands, it just seemed like a perfect fit because integrally, I wanted to work with brands that I believe in.

First photo: I started to work with women entrepreneurs, like Health and Life Coach, Robina. Second photo: I also started to work with local beauty brands. Third photo: In 2020, I continued to work with local beauty brands.

In February of 2020 I launched Boss Up Your Brand to promote a series of resources and events to help fempreneurs level up their business by offering networking opportunities, a podcast and other digital resources, and of course, marketing services.

 

I received a lot of traction and then the pandemic and lockdown hit. I continued to launch virtual programs and resources, and in January 2021, I launched the Boss Up Your Brand podcast (You can listen to Season 1 here).

 

From 2020 to 2022 as I continued to work on my own wellbeing from clean eating to mindset coaching, I also knew I needed to get more intentional, so in 2022 I started to focus more specifically on conscious and wellness brands and made the full transition through my messaging heading into 2023.

 

(But still keeping my fempreneurs top of mind, I launched Boss Up Your Brand Academy in July 2023. You can learn more about it here.)

 

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It’s been quite a journey getting here, to say the least, but isn’t it always a journey? As my business continues to grow, I am so proud and honoured to work with businesses that care. In a world where corporations put their profit margins ahead of everything, it has truly been refreshing to meet and work with business owners who care deeply about the people, planet and communities they serve. And it’s my job to make these amazing brands look their best and connect with their audiences on a deeper level.

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