Jess Davis Joins as Senior Account Executive

 
Q&A with Jess Davis
 
Can you give us a little background on where you were and how you found this
opportunity?
I’m 32, originally from Rochester, New York, and I’ve lived in Boston’s North End for 13 years. I graduated from Suffolk University in 2016 with a PR degree, then spent my early career at startups doing a bit of everything: websites, CRM, ad design, email. I later moved to Mullen Lowe, where I worked on a government account for about a year and a half. A former Mullen coworker connected me with Dorothy at HATCH, and what stood out immediately was that it felt like an agency with the intimacy of a small team, which is exactly the environment I do my best work in.
 
What was your first job in the industry, and what is one thing you learned there
that still shapes how you work today?
I actually landed my first industry job through a salon where I worked as a receptionist. The CEO of Curaytor was a client there, and when he found out I was finishing my PR degree, he encouraged me to apply to his marketing company. I got the job, and ten years later he’s still one of my references. What made him a great first boss was the freedom he gave his team. He trusted us on client calls and creative decisions right away, and that early trust, along with the room to make mistakes, shaped how I try to work today.
 
What ad or campaign inspired you when you were coming up in the business?
Early in my career, I worked mostly with real estate agents. One project I’m proud of from that time is a piece we built at Curaytor called “25 Best Facebook Ads Real Estate Agents Should Copy, ” where we pulled inspiration from outside the industry, like how mattress brands leaned on customer testimonials, and applied that same idea to real estate marketing.
 
What is a recent project you’re proud of?
I’m still fairly new to my current account, so I’m most proud of the branding work I did for a real estate agent, Chadd Ziegler, in Vail, Colorado. I helped shape his messaging so his personality came through as approachable and relatable, which mattered in an industry where differentiation is everything.
 
What is the hardest part of your job?
Balancing what clients want with what actually makes for strong creative. Clients don’t always see their brand the way good design or messaging principles would suggest, so backing decisions with data and showing them what their version would really look like goes a long way.
 
What is the most fun part of your job?
Watching creative work evolve and taking a brand somewhere unexpected. At HATCH, Jen gives me the same kind of trust my first boss did, and being part of the MountainOne account, working on everything we’ve done with Mo the spokesgoat, has shown me just how fun even banking and insurance can be with the right team behind it.
 
What is one thing that can make anyone a better account lead or client partner?
Not being afraid to make mistakes. Early in your career especially, it’s worth moving around and trying different roles or agencies. You won’t know what you like until you find it, and once you land somewhere that trusts you and gives you room to grow, that’s where you stay.
 
What is something most clients still don’t understand about how agencies
actually work?
How many people it takes behind the scenes to bring one idea to life. Having specialists in each role, rather than one person doing everything, makes an enormous difference in the quality and thought behind the final product.
 
What is something people might not know about you?
I’m in the process of applying for dual citizenship in Portugal. I’m 50% Portuguese, though I’ve actually never been.
 
Where is advertising heading next?
I think we’re heading back toward more one-to-one relationships. As AI and automation take over more of the specialized work, people are going to crave personal connection even more, and I think smaller, specialized teams will have an edge over big agencies because of it.
 
What drew you to HATCH, and what are you most excited to work on there?
HATCH is the perfect mix of agency-level expertise and small-team intimacy. I get to work with specialists in every role while still talking to Jen, our CEO, nearly every day, which is rare at most agencies. I also love that HATCH has an advisory council that reviews every major brand initiative, like the Boston 400 project, before it goes out. The more I learn about how this place operates, the luckier I feel to be here.