Jennifer Mabes

Meet Our Integrated Marketing Specialist: Jennifer  Mabes

Jennifer MabesAs our integrated marketing specialist Jennifer Mabes wraps up the end of her first year in the professional world, we checked-in to see how it’s going. When this go-getter is not planning her upcoming wedding or playing fetch with her cats, she is hard at work supporting all aspects of the agency. We covered her interest in the question ‘why?’, her biggest professional accomplishment to date, talked about the motto she lives by and more.

What is your favorite part about your job?

My favorite part of the job so far is the versatility with the type of work and the industries. As an integrated marketing specialist, I have my hand in everything from digital to public relations to creative. With this being my first job after graduation, I’m appreciative that I’ve had the opportunity to be exposed to all these areas to really find where my interests and strengths lie. I really enjoy learning about topics I never knew I would learn or even have an interest in and in doing so, I make connections with people both in my personal life and in the professional world. Working at an agency that serves so many different industries also allows me to assess what industries I am most interested to work with in the future. One additional thing I enjoy about my job is working alongside like-minded individuals. We are just different enough to where we each have something unique to contribute to a brainstorm, yet just similar enough to where we can “get stuff done” efficiently because we are all on the same page.

What is your favorite part about marketing in general?

Gaining insight into the question, ‘why?’. Why do we make the purchasing decisions we make? Why do we read what we read? Why are we inspired? Backing up, what got me interested in marketing goes back to wanting to be a psychologist since the 5th grade. I was always fascinated with why people do the things they do or think the way they do. Then in high school, for my creative outlet, I was able to design my high school’s yearbook as the editor and was also very intrigued by the business field after taking a personal finance class. Fast forward to college where we covered the topic of consumer psychology in my first psychology class, and I realized marketing was a combination of everything I loved and wanted out of a career. Marketing is creative, it’s an important division for businesses/organizations, and most of all, it constantly addresses the question ‘why?’ when helping clients reach their marketing goals.

What is a professional accomplishment you’re most proud of?

When I started at Sweeney – both as an intern and later as a full-time employee – I helped with the PR for the rebranding and grand opening of a social enterprise restaurant. I had never really been interested in PR, nor had I taken classes on publicity and media relations strategy in college, but this experience opened my eyes to its impact. While at first PR wasn’t one of my strengths, I learned something new every step along the way by helping this restaurant. We ended up receiving a lot of great coverage from many different outlets and mediums, and it was so rewarding to continually see articles popping up because of my efforts and the help of my team. It motivated me to work even harder and be open to learning the different parts of the marketing industry that I didn’t focus on in college. With that accomplishment, I was able to expand my skill set, and it felt good to receive support and congratulations from my coworkers for the success.

If you were a brand what would your motto be?

Something good can work. This phrase comes from a song from an indie pop band I’ve been listening to since the 7th grade and ever since I first heard the lyric, I’ve used it to sort of inspire everyday decisions or get through hardships. To me, the phrase means that if an intention is good and positive in nature, things will work out one way or another if it is meant to be. It’s something I believe in whether I’m applying it to my professional or personal life.

What do you like to do outside of work?

Something people may not know about me is that I love to repurpose furniture. Although I don’t get to do it as much as I would like, I love the process of reupholstering a chair, painting a room, furniture and/or accent décor… really anything to do with interior design helps get my creative juices flowing! In my day-to-day, I love to spend time with my fiancé and two cats, Delilah and Odin. I also enjoy reading, baking all different kinds of cookies, watching a good horror movie or crime drama and going for walks on the beach.

What inspires you professionally? 

A combination of industry books, certifications and podcasts. Right now, I am listening to the e-book ‘Creativity Inc.’ and I really enjoy listening to the How I Built This podcast while I am walking or during long car rides. Whenever I have downtime at work, I am working on new certifications. It feels good to know that I am always learning, and I am always thinking of ways I can apply what I learn to my career… I’m finding that since I’ve started my professional career nearly one year ago, I, without knowing it, use industry terms in my personal life during casual conversation. My fiancé gives me the whole “you’re doing it again” look. I guess that’s what I get for being so engrained in the industry and learning all about it. It’s apparent that I love what I do!

Rachel Lowe

Digital Marketing Manager

Rachel is a young veteran in the marketing industry with expertise in both digital and traditional marketing. She currently leads the agency's digital services with experience supporting numerous brands, including Bruegger’s Bagels, The Container Store, JOANN Stores, Mr. Chicken, San Diego Lighting Association and more. Rachel holds certificates in HubSpot, Email Marketing, SEO/SEM, Google AdWords, Google Analytics, Sprout Social and Video Advertising. She is also a member of the PRSA Cleveland board of directors and is the VP of Communications on the executive committee. Most recently she received the PRSA Rising Star Award, recognizing and honoring an outstanding professional with seven or fewer years of experience. A proud graduate of The Ohio State University, she holds a bachelor’s in strategic communication, and minors in fashion and retail studies and professional writing. Rachel is also certified in Digital Marketing Strategies Data, Automation, AI & Analytics from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management Executive Education program.