We have some exciting news to share about our team.
By: Roger Nairn, CEO
JAR prides itself on its team. The individuals who work with us are multi-faceted, talented people with a wide range of abilities – but they are united by a few things:
1 – A strong sense of curiosity:
In a fast-changing tech-driven industry like podcasting, the desire to learn on the job is critical.
2– An excellent sense of humour:
As the immortal clown Wavy Gravy said – “if you can’t laugh, it’s just not funny.”
3 – A deep capacity for listening:
Listening drives excellence in audio storytelling, but also listening is the basis of client relations and the basis of compassion.
The people who work at JAR come from a variety of professional backgrounds – from audio editing, creative writing, tech, journalism, and radio production, certainly. But they also hail from the worlds of advertising, finance, project management, video editing, and not-for-profit.
Together, we use our superpowers to make great podcasts for our clients.
We believe in promoting from within, wherever possible. We therefore could not be prouder to announce the recent promotions of several key JAR team members:
Mandy Elkoreh:
Our Senior Project Manager has recently stepped into the role of Director of Delivery at JAR. Think Air Traffic Controller meets Lion Tamer meets The Sorting Hat. That’s Mandy. As someone who thrives in creative industries, Mandy knows that creativity requires sensitivity and an ability to see your subject from various perspectives, most importantly, the ability to acknowledge and make use of the negative space; While she makes light of having her Bachelor of Interior Design, it has armed her with skills that contributed to her constant career and personal growth: Listening beyond words, creative thinking, and problem-solving. As JAR Audio’s Delivery Director, Mandy’s continuous goal is to ensure all our projects are running smoothly from all standpoints and for all parties involved, by improving processes and workflows and ultimately, ensuring team happiness and client satisfaction.
Jessica Wills:
Former Project Lead – Jess has recently been promoted to Manager, Podcast Delivery at JAR. She brings over a decade of experience as a leader in strategic planning, partnership-building, budget-management, staff oversight, and marketing initiatives for tech firms in the startup sector. Jess is both innovative and analytical, while always maintaining a client-first approach. She started her career focused on victim empowerment in South Africa, managing shelters and crisis centres for survivors of sexual assault. She then moved to global advocacy, consulting with organizations such as The Gates Foundation, Oxfam and Greenpeace. Jess brings her uniquely global lens to some of our most complex and nuanced clients, often working on projects for brands with technical value propositions for specialized audiences. But, strangely, being the logistical coordinator to a couple of 5 lb. pups is proving to be her most challenging role to date.
Chris O’Keeffe:
Our intrepid Executive Producer Chris O’Keeffe has been promoted to the role of Creative Director at JAR. Chris brings a tonne of energy and a wide-ranging creative skillset to the role. He blends a love of storytelling, a knack for audio, and a deep background as a creative director and strategist for some of the biggest and most complex brands on the planet. That creative and strategy background includes life sciences (pharma, genomics, digital health), food & beverage (restaurants, hospitality, CPG), fintech, blockchain, traditional finance, cannabis, non-profits, tourism, transportation and more. He is an active leader, thinker, and collaborator in the greater podcasting community. He acts as a strong creative sounding board for our producers a great resource for clients, and a person who is committed to maintaining the quality bar on our shows. Chris will be working closely on developing a cohesive content strategy for JAR going forward and leading other key creative initiatives. Go Chris!
Rich Morgan:
We’re excited to announce that Rich Morgan has been promoted from JAR’s Head of Client Success to Managing Director. In this role, Rich will be responsible for the operations of the agency, financial success, HR, on top of client success. Since joining JAR Rich has evolved JAR to be a well oiled machine, obsessed with our client’s success, and laser focused on solving business problems with our podcasts. Rich is a Canadian by trade, but currently resides with his family in Jersey (not Springsteen Jersey, but an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France). Rich comes from many years in client services roles, mostly with digital agencies like Powershifter, TribalDDB, Blast Radius, and was most recently with Arctic Shores and Webreality. He’s delivered successful outcomes for national and international brands across several verticals including Edtech, Energy, Fintech, FMCG, Government, and Telecommunications. And he’s proud of the authentic relationships he’s built with clients that include Nike, Electronic Arts, Starbucks, Siemens, TELUS, lululemon, and Red Bull.
Work-Life Balance at JAR Audio
JAR Fridays!
We love our team and believe deeply in capacity building and replenishing the creative well. Burnout is a real thing in the media industry – particularly in post-covid remote work environments. This is why we are announcing “JAR Fridays” – rotating Fridays all summer long where employees will be freed up to dedicate their time to individual creative pursuits or community volunteering.
If you are interested in working with JAR Audio – please keep an eye on our Careers page for job postings, or reach out and say “hi.” We’d love to hear from you!
