Misfits Market / Odds & Ends — brand evolution, packaging, product system
Strategy / Growth / Creative Leadership
Build what’s next.
I help brands and creative organizations figure out what they’re building, why it matters, and what it takes to move it forward.
For the last decade, I helped build and lead Thought Matter. Now I’m bringing that experience to brands, creative practices, and whatever comes next.
Brand
I work on brands at moments when something is changing — growth, reinvention, new audiences, new ambition, or a need to make the story clearer.
Access.
Participation.
Belonging.
Participation.
Belonging.
Street Vendor Project / For the People / Women’s March — civic identity, access and participation
Wolf Hound / Blended — challenger brands with a clear point of view
Practice
I care just as much about how creative work gets made as I do about the work itself.
01
Growth is about people.
The best opportunities come from trust, relationships, and knowing how to bring the right people together.
02
Positioning is storytelling.
A practice grows when people can quickly understand what you do, why it matters, and why you are the right team for the moment.
03
Winning work is a creative act.
A pitch, a conversation, or a new-business moment should feel as thoughtful as the work you’re trying to win.
04
Creative cultures need structure.
Good work needs clarity, trust, decision-making, and systems that protect the ambition instead of getting in its way.
10 years.
One practice.
A national award.
One practice.
A national award.
In 2026, Thought Matter received the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award for Communication Design — recognition of the practice we shaped over a decade.
What’s
Next
I’m interested in the questions that don’t have obvious answers yet — and in where creativity can be useful next.
About Jessie
I’m a creative business, brand, and strategy leader. I like helping ambitious people turn a strong point of view into momentum — whether that means building a brand, growing a creative practice, or figuring out what comes next.
Most recently, I spent a decade helping lead Thought Matter in New York. As Managing Partner, I worked across strategy, client partnerships, new business, teams, and the long-term shape of the studio. In 2026, the practice was recognized with the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award for Communication Design.
Before Thought Matter, I worked in-house at Kimberly-Clark and led brand strategy for global clients including P&G and Colgate-Palmolive. Today I teach entrepreneurship and branding at Pratt Institute, mentor through SVA’s MPS Branding program, and speak and write about design, business, civic life, trust, and the role imagination can play in shaping what comes next.
I’m Salvadoran-American, a mother, and someone who has spent a lot of time thinking about who gets to lead, who gets to participate, and who gets to see themselves in the things we make.
How could this be designed better?
Better to understand. Better to use. Better to participate in. Better to see ourselves in.
Over two decades, Jessie has led creative strategy, client partnerships, team development, and the evolution of brands and design organizations. Her work spans commercial brands, cultural institutions, nonprofits, public-interest organizations, and independent creative practice.