JSA illustration

Over its 48-year history, Jeffrey Scott Agency (JSA) has been a lot of different things and served over 500 clients. But today, the agency named after not one, but two men, is led by women.

Headquartered in Downtown Fresno, JSA is the largest full-service marketing firm in Central California and has become known for using creative strategy as a driving force, building the brands of its clients and championing the communities it serves. And unlike the bulk of businesses, which are run and staffed by mostly men, (yes, still) JSA has three floors of talented marketing and creative professionals — a majority of whom are women, working under female leadership.

At the helm of the agency, Jessie Irwin is a managing partner alongside Marcus Young. Irwin has championed flexible schedules and work-from-home Fridays, saying that when you support flexible work schedules, you support families and the balance of sharing household and child rearing duties between both parents. There’s a reason that during the pandemic, in September 2020, four times more women than men dropped out of the workforce (Boston College Center for Work and Family). Women still shoulder the majority of housework and homeschooling, and flexible schedules and more time to work-from-home gives women access to a better work-life balance—which JSA prioritizes.

“JSA is an incubator for female talent,” says Irwin. “A marketing agency is the definition of a fast-paced work environment and that may be a faux pas now, but it’s true. You’ve got dozens of deadlines, new clients walking in the door every day, constantly changing technology. You need a team of strong, tenured leaders and smart, dedicated staff. And we have that. We’ve got women who’ve been at this for 40 years passing the baton to women fresh out of college, and they all support, motivate, and congratulate one another.”

Just in time for national Women’s Month, JSA is celebrating two recent promotions from within — elevating two of its female employees to leadership positions. Melissa Carrillo has been named JSA’s director of accounts and Natalie Ramirez is the agency’s director of brand strategy.

Carrillo has been working as an account manager at JSA for two years, handling nonprofit and education clients like the Central California Food Bank, Beautify Fresno and Fresno Pacific University.

Ramirez has worked at JSA for five years, handling a wide range of clients including Milano Restaurants International (Me-n-Ed’s, Blast & Brew, Piazza Del Pane), Sun-Maid Growers, and the Fresno Chaffee Zoo.

JSA is a place where knowledge — and leadership roles — are passed down through generations. Both Carrillo and Ramirez started at JSA as account managers, shepherded by Cat Figura, who is now chief operating officer, but has managed accounts since 1991. Figura has helped guide dozens of women into leadership positions over the years.

Sarah Pruner Gunlund, JSA’s director of public relations, has been at JSA for 18 years and Lauren Kerber, JSA’s director of content, has been with the agency for 11 years. Angela Corbett has been with JSA for nine years and now oversees creative products as the agency’s associate creative director. The agency’s web department, which is a male-dominated profession, is fearlessly shepherded by JSA’s Director of Web Services Montanna Tilton. Women dominate the inner and outer workings of the agency, even down to its finances with JSA’s Controller Shantel Maiorana, who has been with JSA since 2005.

“There are a lot of good reasons why an employee may choose to invest their time and talents into their workplace,” said Gunlund. “However, companies that choose to equally invest in their employees’ professional and personal lives is when the magic happens. JSA has always stressed how important it is for a work/life balance, whether you’re a mother, a father, a grad student, a grandfather or intern — it’s a place that thrives at doing business well by not just supporting employees’ investment in themselves but encouraging it.”

However far removed it seems, 50 short years ago, most of the generational knowledge passed down between women concerned caretaking and home making — how to sew a patch in your sweater, cook a pot roast and chew with your mouth closed. It might seem like a played-out tune, but the truth is, there’s still a lot of inequality in the workplace. And although JSA isn’t the first to work to change the narrative, for an agency of our size and influence in Central California, our commitment to it is a rare and refreshing thing.