Jessica Navas, Chief Planning Officer for Erwin Penland, is a polymath who studied communications, French and psychology in college. Her career in advertising started with a job as receptionist at Chiat Day. “I began my career in advertising not knowing which area I wanted to go into,” she says. “It wasn’t until I started working with planners that I truly understood what they did, and I realized I’d actually been a planner my entire life!” Luckily she was taken under the wing of her idol, Jane Newman, who was at the time President of Chiat Day and, later, a founder of Merkley, Newman and Harty -- and who was affectionately known as “the mother of account planning.” Navas recently talked with me about what she learned from the legendary Newman, how she identified opportunities for career growth, the advice she gives to college students today and how industry veterans can learn from young people.
Jessica Navas of Erwin Penland: “Staying Open-Minded is Everything”
