Jill’s Story—the perfect blend of experience and passion.

In 1979 I fell in love – with advertising. I was getting my MBA at UCLA and took my first marketing class. From there it was look out Madison Avenue! I was very lucky and landed my dream job with the best of the best Benton & Bowles in New York City. That agency was a who’s who of advertising talent and was committed to training. From Benton & Bowles, I went to Ogilvy, then Grey and DDB – blue chip all the way!

I cut my teeth on classic packaged goods clients like Procter & Gamble, Mars, Henkel, LA Looks and Nestle. I learned nimbleness and flexibility from QSR clients Hardee’s and Church’s Fried Chicken, while honing branding skills at full-service restaurants Red Lobster and Garcia’s of Scottsdale. Traffic building ideas, you bet, with big box retailers like Lucky Stores. And my favorites—toys—Mattel and Hasbro!

My last 5 years with big agencies were at DDB where I headed up Account Management and was Director of New Business. Heady stuff and very fast paced. We had a great win streak with Epson, Nestle, Hasbro, Henkel, and the California Lottery. I was flying high on new business but when you are in the hunt it means long hours and your life isn’t your own. Which is kind of tough when you have young children.

So as I was pondering my next step, my client Hasbro was doing the same. They asked me if I had ever thought about going out on my own. Pretty much daily, was my answer. They offered me a retainer to run the Disney Licensed business and Ampersand was born.

You may ask why I named it Ampersand? Because it’s Jill and… whoever else I bring in to build a customized team for my clients.

Give me a call and let’s chat.